Rise of the Holy Knights
by The Emerald's Edge
Summary: Prologue to Shattered Space. The story of Jay Masterson and Kira Esperer as they began their lives as pilots and the tragic events that led to them becoming the Holy Knights of Gelinkos.
1. Prologue

Gelinkos, a once war torn world now has peace between its countries, the men and women of this world can finally enjoy its beauty without the sound of air raid sirens or the threat of enemy invasion.

Now as a peaceful world the people of this beautiful planet strive to reduce their military strength to only what would be needed as defense against attack; be it by another country or something foreign to their world.

Just two years after the war had ended Jack Masterson, the heroic pilot from the country of Vrede had retired from the military to be with his wife Meimei and their newborn son Jay. When Jay was born the doctor said that he was destined for great things, it's true that doctors say that about every child they deliver, but Jay seemed to be more than just a healthy infant.

He was a quick learner; he was walking at the age of 7 months and speaking full sentences at the age of 13 months. Once he learned how something worked or what it was for he moved on to the next object.

"Look at him go" Jack laughed one day after seeing his 2 year old son swiftly reading through an old book on history. Just as Jay turned to a chapter about the war that ended two year s ago the doorbell rang and he closed the book.

"Guess who's here Jay" his mother Meimei said cheerily as she opened the door. Standing outside were two people, a woman about 5'9 with dark green hair brown eyes, and a girl about 7 years old with the same hair color and blue eyes.

"Kira" Jay cried as he ran over to her still holding the bulky history book in his hands. Looking down at Jay, Kira smiled "You're reading that? Why can't you play with toy cars like a normal kid" she laughed as she crouched down to be on level with him.

"I like to read, there's nothing wrong with that. It may not be what most kids do, but I don't care" Jay argued as he set the book on the table before giving Kira a hug. Kira and Jay went into the living room while their moms talked in the kitchen. Reentering the living room Jay said "Dad look who's here".

Jack turned slightly in his recliner and gave Kira a short hug when she passed by him "How ya doin' Kira?" he asked after letting her go. "I'm okay, how's the game going?" she asked looking over to the TV in the corner of the room. Jack sighed wearily "Not so good. We're down 27 to 21 in the 3rd quarter, there's still a chance to come back, but its gonna be tough".

"Well if they had done a fake pass and then run through the center like I said the score would be 27 to 28, but no they had to run the ball and 3rd and long" Jay said angrily as he sat next to Kira on the couch as the commercials ended and the game started again.

Jack laughed heartily before looking over to his son "Jay you're too young to be talking like that, act like a normal kid for a few days you'll like it". Kira immediately chimed in "Thank you Jack". Jay looked back and forth between them with a confused look "First off Dad, you taught me all of this football stuff, and now your complaining that I'm calling out bad plays from good plays, make up your mind you can't have it both ways" he complained before looking to Kira "And you" he half yelled while pointing at her "You" he said in a fake growling voice which made Kira giggle.

Throughout the rest of the afternoon Kira, Jay and Jack watched the game while Jack shared old war stories with them. After Kira and her mother left Jay said goodnight to his mother and father before returning to his room the history book still in his hands. After entering his room Jay quickly changed into night clothing and set the book on the dresser before lying down for the night, his eyes closed the second his head made contact with the pillow.

7 years later Jay is now 9 years old and is the star running back for a little league football team, in the final game of the summer he broke the little league record for most yards gained in a season which was 432 yds, the record now stands at 437. After scoring the last touchdown of the game Jay collapsed in the end zone clutching at his right leg.

After the field doctors got him to lie still they examined his leg and concluded that he had pulled a muscle as well as a minor fracture. After Jay was taken to the hospital both of his parents showed up along with Kira who was now 14. Kira gave Jay a light hug before asking him how he felt. "Actually now that the morphine has kicked in I feel great" he joked before laying his head back.

The Next day Jay was given a cast for his leg and a pair of crutches to help him walk. His leg was still in pain, but he still had school to attend. After his parents dropped him off he waved goodbye and entered the school, turning left at the first hall he used his crutches to limp down the hall to the last classroom on the right side. Sliding the door open he said good morning to his teacher before taking his seat at the far side of the room.

After school had ended for the day Jay walked out to the front of the school and leaned against the brick wall to wait for his mom and dad. From around the corner he could hear someone yelling something about a wallet; Jay's instinct told him it was another bully trying to intimidate one of the weaker students. Jay knew he should call for a teacher, but his prideful sense of right and wrong got the better of him and he limped around the corner.

After making it around the corner Jay saw what was going on, a fellow student from his homeroom class was yelling at another kid, he was much taller than both he and Jay and had an unshaven face, he must've been about 16 or 17 years old. "Can you prove it's yours kid? If you can I'll give it back to you" the punk said with a smug look. "You know its mine you just walked up and took it from me, now give it back" the kid yelled.

The punk merely laughed at him "Why don't you just run along kid before I do more than just take your wallet". Jay had already had enough limping forward he called over to him and demanded that he give the wallet back to his classmate. The punk laughed as he saw Jay's cast "Your that Masterson kid right? The one who broke my old running record, well this is going to be a good day, not only do I score some free cash, but I get to take you out of the game permanently".

Jay waved his hand at his classmate telling him to move aside as he placed himself in a side stand position his bad leg facing the punk "Good luck with that" he said with a threatening glare. The punk gave a cocky smile as he took a step towards Jay, the first step he took was his last, Jay quickly shuffled forward and threw his leg up as high as he could scoring a hard kick right to the punk's throat.

The punk stumbled back before falling over gasping for air and clutching at his neck. "You want some more?" Jay said standing a few feet from him. Reaching down and retrieving the wallet the punk dropped Jay handed it to his classmate and told him to go get a teacher. The young student immediately took off back inside the school to get some help while Jay stayed outside.

No more than a minute after the kid ran off he returned with the school's principle and they both explained what happened. After they finished explaining the situation the principle expressed his appreciation for Jay helping his classmate, but also his disappointment for not handling this better. Just as the principle looked over to the high school student Jay knocked out he was getting to his feet and growling "You little brat I'm not gonna let you get away with that" he growled pulling a knife out of his pocket.

Seeing the knife the principle yelled for Jay and the other student to get behind him, but he wasn't quick enough the punk had already lunged at Jay. Ducking under the punk's arm and circling behind him Jay used his cast to kick him in the back of his knee forcing him to fall, after he fell to his knee Jay spun around and slammed his cast into the side of the punk's neck knocking over.

After this had happened Jay heard someone calling his name and looked up. Standing at the corner were his parents and Kira, she had a scared look on her face when she saw the knife at Jay's feet. The principle quickly explained what happened to Jay's parents before telling them that due to School rules since a weapon was involved, Jay isn't allowed to leave campus until the police show up to take his report.

Jay's father Jack walked over to the high school punk Jay knocked over and wrenched his arm behind his back before escorting him inside. After entering the office Jack forcefully pushed the punk into a seat and donned a drill sergeant like tone telling him to remain still and silent. Since the younger student was also involved he wasn't allowed to leave either which made his parents angry, but after learning what happened they calmed down and thanked Jay for helping their son.

After the police showed up Jay and his classmate separately explained the event to them. After confirming their story the two officers took the high school student to their squad car and pushed him into the back. One of the officers walked back over to Jay and patted him on the shoulder and whispered "You handled yourself pretty well kid, you'd make a good officer one day". Jay made eye contact with the officer and nodded silently.

After the two officers left Jay looked back to his parents and Kira and apologized for what happened. Both of his parents told him that he did the right thing with the exception of taking the matter into his own hands, but they were still proud of him.

After the four of them got into the car and drove away Jay looked over to Kira and asked why she was with them. "My mom is going off on a business trip so my sister Kai and I are going to be staying with you for the week".

Jack without missing a beat looked in the rear-view mirror and said "Jay you don't mind sharin' a room with Kira do you?" Jay quickly looked at the floorboard and blushed as his mom slapped his father on the shoulder while Kira was laughing "Don't worry Jay we won't be sharing a room, but I will be just across the hall from you".

After they arrived back at Jay's house they saw Kai waiting for them in the driveway she was leaning against her car staring aimlessly at the sky. "Hey there Kai" Jack called over to her as they got out of the car. Kai smiled slightly as she waved over to them "I just got a call from the Air Force my application has been accepted I'll be starting my mechanic training next week" she said as they walked over to her.

"That's great dear" Meimei said as she handed her husband a few bags to carry inside. Kira looked away and smiled sadly "She's already moving up in life" sighing Kira looked over to Jay who was waiting a few feet from her "What do you plan on doing when your done with school Jay?"

Jay looked over to her and smiled "I'm gonna be a fighter pilot. I want to fly" he said with a big smile. Kira smiled at him as they went inside to enjoy the rest of the weekend. After dinner everyone took turns getting their showers before turning into bed. Jay was having trouble sleeping so he went back downstairs and turned the history channel on, they were showing a documentary about the old days just before the colonization ships left Earth long ago.

As Jay watched the documentary he felt his eyes growing heavy, before he fell asleep he heard someone coming down the stairs and turned the volume down on the TV. Looking over to the staircase he saw Kira, her night attire consisted of a long sleeved and very thin shirt and underwear. Jay quickly turned his attention back to the TV and raised the volume slightly "Couldn't sleep?" he asked her.

"No not really, for some reason I can't stop thinking about everything that happened today" she said as she sat next to him on the couch "My sister is going to be a military mechanic, you already know what you want to do when your grown up, but me…I don't know what I want to do. I don't really have any skills so what am I good for?"

"That's not true" Jay said looking over to her "Kira don't do that to yourself, your intelligent, kind, and very beautiful you'll find something your passionate about just you wait and see" he continued giving her a loving smile. Kira chuckled silently "I swear sometimes it feels like I'm the kid, you're 9 and you're lecturing me about life how backwards is that?"

Jay silently leaned his head against Kira's shoulder as he began thinking on what she just said "Is it really that weird?" Kira wrapped her arm around Jay and held onto him "No don't worry about it, it's just something I'm not used to" she said gently. Jay smiled as he felt his eyes getting heavier "I really love having you around Kira, I always feel better when you're with me".

3 years later Jay and Kira are now 12 and 17, Kira had entered the Junior Military Academy and began working towards becoming a fighter pilot. Remembering Jay's look when he told her his dream of being a pilot she felt something change inside her, she was more determined now than ever. Jay spent most of his time studying both for School and on becoming a pilot when he was older, his dread was not just to be a fighter pilot, but to be able to fly. To see the world from the sky and not to be bound by the laws of gravity.

Over Summer break Jay decided to visit Kira after one of her Summer classes were over. Waiting outside the front gate with a small black I pod hanging from around his neck he leaned against the brick wall listening to his favorite song Blurry.

As he silently sang to himself he felt someone shake his shoulder and looked up to see Kira and Hideki. "Hey guys" he said taking one of the headphones off. "What are you doing here Jay?" Hideki asked him after slinging his bag over his shoulder. "I don't have anything to do today so I figured I hang out with you for the rest of the day" the young white haired kid said.

Hideki smiled as he brushed his black hair back "We've got a lot of studying to do today, but I don't mind as long as you don't distract us too much". Kira gave Jay a faint smile as she reached into her bag and pulled out a book about 20th century fighter jets, handing it to Jay she said "I remembered you saying that you loved those old fighter jets that were used back on Earth so I got this for you".

Jay's eyes widened as if he just obtained the most valuable object in the world, opening the book and skimming through the table of contents he was amazed at the number of fighters listed as well as intense details of each. "Thanks Kira" he said hugging her tightly.

As the day moved on Jay fiercely read through the book Kira got him while her and Hideki studied for their classes. After a while Kira became stumped on one of her mock questions and grunted in frustration. "Had enough?" Hideki asked in an amused tone. Kira sighed "I can't remember this one" reading out the question about a long sword fighter's cooling engine she sighed again "I just can't remember how it works".

Jay looked over to her and said "The cooling engine is self activated once the internal systems gets to the limit temperature of 230 degrees Fahrenheit, after that it starts by immediately releasing a cooling air through the system, of course if the systems in question say for example the machine guns were still being used the cold air would cause the hot steel to tear itself apart as it rotated at its high speed".

Both Kira and Hideki looked at Jay with amazement, Hideki quickly read through his text book and confirmed what Jay just said impressing both of them even further. "Your gonna be one hell of a pilot Jay" Hideki laughed as he set the book back down and returned to his mock exam.

As the night progressed the sky became darker and darker. Seeing the night sky Kira said that she would walk Jay home and they both said goodbye to Hideki before leaving. As the two walked down the street Kira looked down at him and asked "When do you plan on going to Military school?" Jay thought for a moment before answering with a confident voice "Once I graduate Junior High, I'm going to enroll at my Dad's old High School, you know the Military Academy on the south end of town".

Kira smiled as she locked her hands behind her waist "If you enroll there they'll be expecting nothing, but the best from you. Your dad was the best student that school ever had". Jay nodded "Yea I know, but pretty soon he's gonna be second best" he said raising his arm in victory.

Kira couldn't help, but laugh at what she just heard "I'm sure you'll do fine Jay" she said as they continued towards Jay's home.

After a couple of hours they reached Jay's house and were about to go they're separate ways when Kira's phone rang. Answering the phone Kira listened to the caller on the other side before saying ok and hanging up "Well my mom called the exterminator to spray our place so we can't use it for the next 24 hours, so it looks like I'll get to stay with you again" she said smiling happily.

Opening the door Jay called for his mother and father, but no one answered. Entering the kitchen Jay saw a note pinned to the table it read "Out to dinner, won't be back until late be good".

Looking over to Kira Jay raised his arms and yelled "Party". Kira laughed as he quickly retracted the thought saying that he was just joking.

The two of them spent the remainder of the evening watching an old monster/comedy movie called Tremors. After the movie ended Jay said goodnight to Kira before giving her a hug and heading to bed. While he hugged her Kira gave him a kiss on the forehead before saying goodnight and returning to her studies.

After he returned to his room Jay laid on his bed and felt a warming feeling in his heart, blushing Jay turned his head towards the wall and closed his eyes before drifting to sleep.


	2. An Early Future

Saturday May 3rd.

Jay is now 13 and now enrolled Riverside South Academy, a high class military academy that has produced countless outstanding students and soldiers. Jay's father Jack had attended this school twenty-five years ago and still remains the best student that ever graduated from the academy.

Jay's instructors were harder on him than other cadets, probably because of his father. Jay had a name to live up to so he made it his personal goal to beat every record his father set both in academics and military training. Jay was already the highest ranked student academic wise in the Air Force class, scoring top marks on each exam.

As far as his military training went, Jay was doing well enough to make top rank in the flight simulators, but in his field exercises he was just outside the top five mark, losing the rank only by a few points.

Just outside the Academy's west wing, Jay's class was preparing for a medical exercise. The class instructor stood boldly in front of the class of over thirty cadets and sternly said "Listen up". "Today you'll be learning some basic medical skills such as, tourniquets, make-shift casts and of course CPR" the instructor turned around her long; dark brown hair flowed over her shoulder. "All right here is the list of who will be doing what first, find your assignment and proceed to your proper area".

After quickly scanning over the list Jay saw his name under the make-shift casts column and followed a group of students to the left side of the training area. At the training station there were exactly three medical dummies each with a twisted ankle, a sprained wrist and dislocated shoulder. On the tables near the dummies were shredded cloth, rubber and leather straps along with gauze as well as metal sheets and small wooden planks. They were going to have to use these items to improvise casts for the injuries.

Jay opted to go last so he could see how the others worked and learn from their mistakes or successes. About twenty minutes after they started Jay walked over to the dummy with the twisted ankle and began working. Within a few minutes Jay had managed to form a sturdy cast for the ankle, but he didn't have time to work on the other two before the class had to swap around.

For the next few hours the medical training continued before the class was dismissed for the day. After reaching his locker in the east wing of the academy Jay opened it and retrieved his bag before closing the locker and leaving. Exiting the academy premises he turned around when he heard someone calling his name.

Looking behind him he saw his class instructor Captain Kavai. "Something wrong?" he asked her as she stopped in front of him. "No I just wanted to give you something. Consider it a reward for being such a diligent student. Your father told me you like these kind of things" she said revealing an old puzzle box from her bag and handing it to Jay.

Jay took the box and carefully turned it around in his hands examining each side "Thank you Captain Kavai" he said generously as he gently placed the puzzle box in his bag. Captain Kavai smiled and said "I'm not that good with puzzles, but I'm sure you can figure it out". Placing her hand on his shoulder Kavai bid him farewell and walked in the opposite direction leaving him alone at the entrance gate of the academy.

Continuing on his way Jay heard jet engines above him and quickly looked towards the sky. High above him five fighters jets flew by heading North, squinting his eyes Jay could barely make out the emblem of the Corpse fighter squadron. The Corpse squadron was one of the elite fighter teams from Saris, one of the countries in the war that ended fifteen years ago. "Why are Saris fighters in our airspace?" Jay asked himself before seeing a commercial jet flying over head with the Saris national flag painted on the side of its tail and another fighter squadron escorting it.

Jay was born two years after the war ended and he never felt any hostility to his country's former enemies, but seeing these foreign forces fly over his hometown made him uneasy. Deciding to return home immediately Jay quickly turned right and ran down the side alley that winded through the area.

After a while of running through alley after alley Jay finally arrived at the road that would take him home, quickly running down the old dirt road Jay heard the rumble of thunder above him and looked towards the sky once again. Ahead of him he could see storm clouds forming, their ominous dark color gave both an uneasy and depressing feeling as the cold and warm air began mixing together.

Slowing his run to a mild jog Jay continued home determined to make it back before the storm hit, but he was still a ways off, and the storm began looking even more ominous and dangerous.

After a few minutes Jay had hit the half way point, but the rain had already started, it was light at first, but it quickly picked up into full scale storm. High winds and hard rain consumed the area and Jay was trapped in it.

"Argh. Why me" he grunted as he held his bag over his head while he continued to run through the storm. "Just a little further" he said to himself trying to ignore the tired feeling running through his body. The wind got rougher and the rain became heavier he knew if he didn't get home soon he would catch a cold or worse the fatigue could cause him to lose his focus and he could end up turned around and lost.

Another rumble of thunder echoed around him and he frantically began looking around, he was still on the right road, but he didn't know how much farther he had until he made it home. The storm continued to get worse the crack of lightning followed immediately by the roar of thunder he was in the center of the storm and he was feeling the full force of it. The fatigue began catching up with him, he could no longer ignore the tired muscles in his legs and his vision began to blur as his head began pounding.

Closing his eyes just for a few seconds to wipe the rain from his eyes Jay tripped on something and stumbled into and old wooden fence that ran along the side of the road. Colliding with the old fence Jay fell through breaking two sections of it, quickly getting to his feet and grabbing hold of his bag Jay once again held it over his head and scrambled back to his feet only to slip again instinctively moving his right arm in front of his face he felt his right upper arm hit the fence post. The very second his arm made contact with the wooden post of the fence he felt a stabbing pain shoot through his arm.

With a quick grunt of pain Jay pulled his arm away from the post and saw what caused the pain. Two old nails were protruding through the worn and weakened wood; both had stabbed right into his arm. Jay panicked as he grabbed his bag and held it over his head once again to provide as much protection as he could.

Seeing the blood washing down his arm he knew he had to stop the bleeding soon otherwise it would cause him to faint. Dropping his bag he grabbed hold of the right sleeve of his shirt and ripped it off and tied it around his arm. Using his teeth he pulled the knot back making sure it was tight enough to hold until he made it home.

Grabbing his bag once again he held it over his head and began running home. Every step he took he felt a twinge of pain shoot through his right arm he had to have damaged a muscle the pain was too central to his arm to be otherwise. After of few minutes of continuing through the storm he saw lights about fifty yards from him, they were just barely visible through the heavy rain, but he knew what they were from.

Forcing himself to run even faster he drew closer and closer to his house. Running up the drive way he could just barely make out a figure standing under the scaffolding to the front door of the house, a painful triumphant smile crossed his face as he climbed the front steps to his home and quickly collapsed to his knees right next to Kira and Hideki.

Shocked at his sudden appearance Kira and Hideki stood there staring at him until they saw the blood seeping through his sleeve. "Jay are you ok?" Kira screamed quickly helping him to his feet. Jay gave her a weak, pleased smile and said "I'm home" in a delirious tone before passing out in her arms.

Hearing the faint beeping sounds of medical equipment around him Jay slowly opened his eyes and scanned around the dark room. Nearby an unfamiliar voice said "Ah so you're finally awake". Slowly turning his head Jay locked eyes with a middle age man in a long, thin white jacket "How long have I been asleep?" he asked the doctor after slowly blinking his eyes.

"Let's see…About four days, you caught quite a cold out there. Add to it that injury on your arm was infected; you must've hit a rusty nail or something. But you're well enough now so there shouldn't be too much to worry about". After he finished speaking the doctor stepped out of the room and walked down the hall leaving the door cracked so the dim lights in the hall slipped in.

A few moments after he left the doctor returned with Jay's mother and Kira, both of them had a look of great relief on their faces "Oh thank God, I was so worried about you" his mother said silently rushing over to him and hugging him. "It was a cold, when's the last time you ever heard someone dying from a cold" Jay said struggling against his mother's grasp.

"How are you feeling?" Kira said quietly walking over to him. "Pretty tired, but other than that good" Jay said hugging her. Jay's mom looked down at him and said "Why can you give Kira a hug and not your own mother?"

Jay blushed as he looked away from them "Well it's…" Jay was too embarrassed to finish his sentence so he decided to quickly change topics "I don't really feel like staying the night here, so let's go home shall we?"

After Jay was discharged he and Kira went outside while his mother filled out the paperwork for his discharging. Outside Jay looked over to Kira and asked her if she knew anything about the Saris fighter squadron he saw a few days ago. "I heard something about them flying around, but I haven't heard anything other than that" she told him before looking at the night sky.

Jay placed his hand around his chin trying to think of a reason why Saris fighter jets would be in Vrede airspace. And that commercial jet they were escorting could it have been for diplomatic purposes? But if that was the case why were these so many fighters instead of the usual one or two? Jay couldn't shake the feeling that something really bad was about to happen, but his mother's voice snapped him out of his train of thought.

"Time to head home Jay, you've been out for four days. Kira and Hideki are graduating tomorrow" she called over to him as she opened the door to her car. Quickly snapping out of his trance Jay followed Kira to the car and got in the backseat while Kira got in the passenger seat up front. "So tomorrow huh? You'll be done with High School, what'll you do then?" Jay asked Kira as they drove out of the hospital parking lot.

Kira lowered her head slightly "I don't know. I'm probably gonna follow my sister and join the Air Force. They said I'd make a good fighter pilot, but I'm still not so sure".

Jay leaned forward slightly and tapped her on the shoulder and waited for her to turn her head. "If you do become a pilot, we could fly together. I'd really like that". Kira quickly turned her head back around to hide her face which was quickly turning red, quickly regaining her composure she looked at Jay through the rear-view mirror and nodded "That sounds nice for now".

Jay sat back in his seat and leaned his head against the cold window and stared at the dark forest as they drove down the dirt road still thinking about the Saris fighters he saw the other day and why they would be here. After a while of driving they arrived at Kira's house and dropped her off. After saying goodnight to her Jay and his mother headed home.

The drive from Kira's place to the Masterson residence was a mere twenty-five minutes, but Jay had already fallen asleep with his head leaned against the window of the door. After stopping in the driveway his mom turned the car off and shook his shoulder to wake him "Get some sleep honey you don't want to be tired at Kira's graduation do you?"

Jay gave his mom a tired smile before saying goodnight and heading inside and immediately up the stairs to his room and fell asleep. In his dreams he heard air raid sirens blaring around him and the sound of roaring jet engines overhead.

_There were several fighter squadrons flying above him from both Saris and his own country of Vrede. They were fighting against a strange enemy he had never seen before they seemed to be completely mechanical and had various shapes, some looked like giant eyes others looked like spiked spheres, but the smaller ones all shared the same design they looked almost like cubes._

_These strange machines were destroying the fighters with ease, even if one of these strange machines were shot down more showed up. "What are these things?" Jay asked seeing them shoot down several Vrede fighters. Hearing the sound of a jet screaming through the air Jay looked to his right just as a shot down fighter landed on top of him crushing him under it._

Jay woke from his sleep and shot up from his bed dripping in sweat. "What the hell were those things" he gasped after seeing the way his hands were shaking. Looking over to his alarm clock he sighed when he saw it was only two in the morning "There's still five hours until sunrise. And the graduation ceremony isn't until this afternoon".

Lying back in his bed Jay closed his eyes and tried not to think about the dream he just had, but something kept his mind on it he couldn't focus on anything else. Eventually he managed to fall asleep and thankfully a different dream came to him a more peaceful dream.

_Sitting on a grassy hilltop over looking the ocean Jay was sitting next to Kira who was standing a few feet from the edge of the cliff humming a song to herself while they waited for Hideki. Jay was lying on his back staring at the open sky while Kira sat merely a foot away from him. "Hey Kira, what song is that?" he asked her slowly turning his head._

_Kira stopped humming and smiled at him "It's called Journey Home. My Grandmother taught it to my mom who taught it to my sister and me". Jay asked Kira if she could teach him the song, but before Kira could respond a giant ship appeared on the horizon far out ahead of them. "What is that thing? Some kind of ship?" Jay asked himself seeing that massive ship. The ship was shrouded in a divine light, but he could easily make out its humanoid shape, it was a slim ship with a clawed left hand and a sword on its left forearm. Its divine wings were extended outward and it held its right hand to the side as if trying to shield something._

_Looking past the humanoid mecha Jay saw five other ships. One was humanoid in shape like the one in front of it only without the wings and clawed hand. Its armor color was bordering between yellow and bronze and its eyes were green. The other four ships looked different, but had the same basic features. They looked like fighter jets built purely for space combat, the one on the far right was crimson red and shaped like a claw with its pincers closed._

_The one next to it was dark blue and had what seemed to be two cannons on each side of it. The ship on the far left was light blue in color and had what appeared to be a sword for a nosed definitely a bizarre design. The ship in the left center position was a silvery white color and is design was obviously meant to give the ship speed and stability. It had several fins sticking out from it and a single long one on its back._

_The six ships advanced further towards the hilltop where Kira and Jay were before turning around and disappearing in a blinding divine light, leaving behind a mysterious voice that said "In due time young Masterson you will ally with the hearts of those before you. And with their help you will end a dark war"._

_Everything around Jay began disappearing leaving him alone on the hill which was slowly dematerializing itself. Jay made one last look at the horizon where he saw those strange ships and the place where the mysterious voice originated from before being awakened by a loud sound._

Jay shot up form his bed, the sounds of his mother and father frantically calling his name from the other side of the house and the distant, but unmistakable sounds of an air raid siren in the distance. Sensing the danger Jay jumped form his bed and threw on a plain white T-shirt before trying to open his door.

His bedroom door was stuck and he heard the walls around him crumbling slowly. From the other side of the door he heard his father shouting to him "Jay go out the window. Get out of the house now".

Jay knew he had to listen regardless of how strange it sounded so he immediately turned around and grabbed the chair at the small desk in his room and threw it through the window before jumping out of it.

After he was outside he heard the familiar sounds of jet engines roaring above him, when he looked towards the sky he saw several fighter squadrons flying off towards the main city in the west. Running around the side of the house he saw why his bedroom door was stuck. The center part of his house had caved in and the wing of a destroyed fighter jet was lying in the center of the rumble.

Jay's parents came out of their bedroom window and joined Jay as he looked towards the west seeing the giant smoke clouds and the tiny dots that were fighter jets flying around shooting at an unknown enemy.

* * *

**A/N.** That's chapter 2 hope the very few fans of Shattered Space have enjoyed it so far.

I will not be updating again until I have advanced Shattered Space a few chapters. I was going to wait to do the prologue after Shattered Space was finished, but due to constant nagging and harassing by a couple of obsessed fans I uploaded it early.

Read and review...or don't I don't really care.


	3. The First Knight

Arriving at the parking lot of the Vrede Air Defense Command building Jay and both of his parents quickly got out of their car and ran inside and took the stairs to the basement level "We'll be safe here, just don't go to the upper floors" Jack told his family before running off to find a commanding officer.

Jay quickly spotted both Kira and Hideki watching the air battle from a monitor on the east side of the wall and ran over to them "Any ideas as to what's going on?" he asked them after seeing a still shot of one those mechanical enemies just before it was destroyed "What are those things?" he wondered.

Jay's father returned and gathered him, Kira and Hideki along with Jay's mother to tell them that he was going to suit up to join the fight. "Jack you can't" Jay's mother argued.

Jack shook his head "They need me out there, whatever these things are they have us and the Saris squadrons vastly outnumbered Cleveland and I are going to launch in ten" Jack looked to Kira and kneeled down to her level "Take care of Jay for me" he whispered to her before looking to his son "Ready to see your old man in action boy?"

Jay grinned "Just remember you and I still have a dog fight scheduled for the future, so don't get shot down".

Jack smiled before turning to run to an underground transport truck that would take him to the Air Base a few miles away. Jay quickly turned to his mom who was trying to be strong and not cry in front of her son, but Jay wasn't too worried something told him that his father was going to be fine for now.

Ten minutes passed and a radio channel from the nearby air base opened up and Jack's voice came through "This is Jack Masterson. Captain Rainer and I are taking off give us some covering fire". Watching the screen they saw both Jack and Rainer take off and ascend in a steep angle that didn't seem physically possible for a fighter jet. Several Vrede pilots could be heard screaming over their radios yelling orders and announcing their damage and ammunition status.

"This is Fool 3. Ammo count has reached zero returning to base to rearm and refuel". "Talon 1 here, Talon 4 was just shot down. He managed to bail out get a rescue crew to him quick".

Several voices were yelling in a foreign language that Jay knew to be the native language to Saris, but he never learned it so he couldn't really tell what they were saying. "Corpse 1 is too damaged to continue the fight he's pulling out" an operator said from the command side of the room "Magicians 3 and 2 escort Corpse 1 back to base".

Almost an hour had passed and the battle was still going on. The unknown enemy was taking only a few losses, but they had only managed to shoot down a handful of fighters this battle was still on even ground. Another hour soon passed and the basement floor shook violently as the building above them collapsed due to a Saris fight and an enemy crashing down on it.

The commanding officer grabbed hold of the loud speaker microphone and ordered everyone to head to the transport trucks in the underground tunnel civilians first beginning with women and children. Jay made a quick look at the radar screen to try and find his father somewhere in the crowded battle, but didn't have time to spot his call sign before he was herded onto the truck.

Anxiously waiting for the truck to arrive at the air base in the south Jay continued to tap his foot on the floor he wanted nothing more than to join the fight and help put an end to these battle, but he was still in school sure he had passed the flight simulator with top marks, but flying an actually fighter was much different and that was a real battle going on in the sky.

"This is truck 6, head's up the enemy have breached the tunnel their behind us". Jay looked behind him and could just barely see the several cube shaped enemies flying after the truck at the end of the convoy. Jay's heart began racing he knew there was no way that truck was going to out run them.

"Truck 6 do you have any weapons on board?" the driver of truck 2 asked. "Yeah, but all we've got our assault rifles and a single turret we'll do our best to take care of them, but we're just soldiers back here the civilians take priori…" the radio was cut off in a burst of static as truck 6 at the end of the convoy exploded in a massive ball of fire taking the three enemies with it.

Jay backed into his seat he couldn't stop shaking, anger was flaring within him he no longer cared what these things were or why they were attacking his world he wanted to see them all burn.

Arriving at the air base the blast doors slowly closed and locked themselves after the last truck came through and armed soldiers began escorting civilians to safety within a basement room. Walking down a corridor a massive explosion was heard through the walls before the ceiling collapsed separating Jay, Kira and a few soldiers from the rest of the group. "Jay!" his mother cried through the pile of rubble.

Jay tried to call back to his mom, but the three soldiers pulled him back saying that they had to go around. "This way" the 1st sergeant said as he led them back up the stairs to the first floor "We'll have to take the other way down. Its a few blocks down the hall, but we should be able to make it".

After climbing the stairs to the first floor the three soldiers quickly escorted Kira and Jay down the hall through a few blocks and back to another stair case, but one of the cube enemies crashed through the wall and immediately began crawling towards them "Go! Go!" the 1st sergeant yelled at them as he began firing his M16 at the damaged enemy trying to distract it.

After rushing into the staircase and closing the door behind them they quickly retreated to the next floor below them. After the gunfire above them stopped they heard the sergeant yelling in pain before silence took over. "Keep moving" the soldiers yelled as they reached the basement floor. After closing the door behind them they told Jay and Kira to run to the end of the hall and not to stop for anything "We'll be right behind you just keep running and don't look back".

Jay and Kira quickly sprinted down the hall determined to make it to the safe room that was just a few more halls away, but the cube type enemy that they saw on the floor above them crashed through the stairwell door and immediately impaled both of the soldiers on its claws before throwing them both down the hall. The corporal who seemed to be only a few years older than Kira coughed up a good bit of blood as he tried to tell them to keep running.

Just as the soldier died Jay reached down and grabbed his assault rifle and a single M67 fragmentation grenade from the soldier's belt "Run!" he yelled at Kira yanking the pin on the grenade and rolling it across the floor towards the enemy. Quickly reaching down and taking the soldiers radio he contacted the safe room a few halls down. "Who is this?" the officer asked.

"This is Jay Masterson. The three soldiers that were escorting us to the safe room are dead and there's one of those cube things in the basement hall chasing after us. It's heavily damaged, but I can't stop it…Kira look out!" Jay dropped the radio and turned around quickly switching the rifle to full automatic and holding down the trigger.

The rapid fire was forceful enough to make Jay lose his footing so he kneeled down and took another shot aiming straight for what he hoped was this thing's eyes. After the chamber clicked Jay retrieved the radio and continued down the hall with Kira they had to make the safe room, the enemy had taken so much damage it was crawling after them they just had to make it.

Entering the third hall they saw the safe room at the far end of the hall with several soldiers yelling at them to hurry as the lockdown sequence had began and couldn't be overridden. Kira and Jay were both tired they had just sprinted almost an entire mile through the facility and still had another hundred yards to go before making it to the safe room. "Let's go" Jay said as he grabbed Kira's hand and pulled her along with him.

Making it half way the blast doors began closing ten yards in front of them and Jay swore loudly as he tried to pick up the pace. Jay stopped at last second and pushed Kira under the door before trying to slid under himself, but it was too late the door had closed. "Dammit!" he yelled slamming his fist against the transparent door. "Jay!" Kira cried as she got back up. The next layer of the blast door began closing and Jay knew he had to go back "I'll be fine just get to the safe room" he yelled, but the door was too thick for her to hear him.

Jay turned around and ran back down the hall with Kira calling his name. The two soldiers from the safe room door had no other choice, but to carry Kira to the safe room as she continued to scream and cry Jay's name.

Jay turned the radio back on and contacted the officer at the safe room asking if there was another place he could go. "The closest safe place to you is the armory kid, but you'll have to head back up to the first floor and take the service lift to get past the blast doors".

Shutting off the radio Jay groaned "Great. Just my luck". Turning back around the next corner Jay cursed when he saw the enemy was still alive "Just die already" he yelled as the mechanical monster closed in on him. Waiting for his chance Jay narrowed his eyes he knew he only had one chance to run, but he had to wait for the right opening or he would die.

The cube shaped enemy raised its claw and swung it forward ready to make its final kill. "There!" Jay yelled as he rolled under the claw before quickly scrambling to his feet and running back down the hall he came from. Stopping at the body of the dead corporal Jay quickly unloaded the clip from the assault rifle he was still carrying and replaced it with a fresh one. Making a quick look over his should Jay saw the enemy turning around and slowly began crawling towards him.

Looking back at the dead corporal next to him and then to the body of the dead sergeant a few yards up that hall Jay said he wasn't going to run. These two gave their lives to protect him and Kira and he wasn't going to leave that tunnel until whatever this thing was is dead. Slinging the band of the assault rifle over his shoulder Jay lifted the body of the soldier onto his shoulders and began walking down the hall and back to the stairwell door.

After reaching the door Jay placed the body of the soldier next to his fallen comrade and also discarded the assault rifle he was carrying "Payback time" Jay growled as he took the four grenades from their bodies Quickly ducking into the stairwell Jay opened a small box on the wall and took out the fire extinguisher and quickly tied the fire hose around it before using the knife he took from the soldier to cut the end of the hose.

Stepping back into the massive hall Jay reared back and rolled the fire extinguisher down the hall and yanked back on the hose making sure it stopped just a few yards in front of the enemy. Retrieving the assault rifle Jay set it to semi-auto before entering a prone position lying on his stomach and took aim. Once the enemy was over the fire extinguisher he took his shot and hit it dead on making it pop and spew foam onto the enemy's face blinding it.

As the cube type began flailing around unable to see Jay yanked the pin out of a single grenade and rolled it down the hall before rolling the others in right behind it. Ducking back into the stairwell Jay crouched down in the corner and covered his ears waiting for the grenades to go off. The first grenade went off, causing the other three to go off in sequence due to their close proximity to one another. After the fourth grenade went off Jay looked back into the hall and saw the enemy stumble to the side before falling against the wall and sliding down the red glow in its eyes slowly dimming before fading entirely. Unknown to Jay several security cameras in both the stairwell and the hall caught everything and the soldier monitoring them was in shock, he couldn't believe a kid was able to finish that thing off alone.

Jay turned to the bodies of the dead soldiers and gave a brief, but respectful salute to honor them before taking the last clip from the corporal's body and running up the stairwell. Quickly returning to the first floor Jay looked down the hall to see two soldiers carrying the body of the 1st sergeant that died protecting him down the hall. Jay called over to them before running up to them.

"What are you doing here you should be in the safe room" the soldier carrying the sergeant said. Jay quickly explained what happened leaving out the part of him killing the enemy in the basement halls "He said the safest place was the armory, something about a service lift". After he finished explaining Jay handed the assault rifle to the other soldier and kneeled over to catch his breath "Do either of you have any idea what these things are?" he asked them as he continued to catch his breath "And please don't give me any classified crap I just saw two soldiers die protecting me".

The soldier that was carrying the body of the sergeant looked down at Jay "All we know is that they first attacked Saris before moving here. We've also gotten word that similar things are attacking the republic of Paix as well as the Pokoju Federation. Our entire world is under attack by these things and we have no idea why".

Finally catching his breath Jay knew that this wasn't going to stop, something is his heart and mind told him that this was the beginning of a big war. Jay looked at the facility map on the wall and sighed "I'm going to head for the armory then. Be careful you two" he said before running off.

The soldiers called for him to stop, but he didn't listen he kept running until he was sure no one was following him. Running down the hall Jay came to a fork, the left hall would lead him toward the doors that go to the hangars the right would lead him to the command rooms and the service lift. _"Your future starts in the sky"_ a mysterious voice said in his head.

Jay looked at the floor and fought against himself, part of him wanted to do whatever he could to help, but the other half of him wanted to get to the armory and wait for this to end. "Screw it" he yelled as he turned left and bolted down the hall at top speed. Making one last turn and bursting through a doorway Jay saw a medic tending to his instructor from the academy Captain Elliot Kavai.

"Captain Kavai!" Jay yelled running over to her. Kavai was surprised to see Jay "Why are you here you should be in the safe room with the others". Jay looked at Kavai's injuries and was relieved to see that they weren't fatal "The blast doors cut us off the officer told me to head to the armory, but I refuse to stand by and do nothing regardless of what they're telling me".

Kavai forced a painful smile "Whatever you're planning Jay be careful. I've known you long enough to know that you're not going to change your mind, but please be cautious whatever you do". Jay nodded before getting back to his feet and running through the next door and towards the hangars.

Sprinting across the air strip Jay found a fighter that was loaded with ammunition and fuel and immediately climbed into it "Let's conquer" he said to himself as he began powering up the fighter. Jay felt a sharp pulse race through his head and before he realized it his hands were flying across the controls and within seconds he was ready to taxi onto the runway.

Turning the radio on Jay got into position on the runway and took a deep breath before slowly exhaling; closing his eyes Jay calmed himself.

"Look at hanger 19" a voice said from the radio. After several officers in the control room and several pilots fighting over the air base saw the fighter in position on the runway another voice yelled "Who the hell pulled that out?"

"Pilot on the runway identify yourself at once" an officer from the control tower demanded.

Opening his eyes Jay muttered "Its time" and threw the thrust lever forward igniting his fighter's engines. "Pilot identify yourself now that is an order" the officer yelled through the radio.

"This is Jay Masterson, I'm taking off".

"Jay Masterson? You're not a pilot what are you thinking? Get out of that jet now and get inside" the officer ordered, but his words had fallen on deaf ears.

"You want to stop me then shoot me down" Jay told him as he began roaring down the runway. "You idiot you won't stand a chance up there what are you doing?" the officer yelled as the pilots above watched in surprise.

The call switch to Jay's right began flashing while giving off a sharp beeping sound. Flipping the switch a monitor appeared above it, it was Jay's father "Jay what the hell are you doing?" he yelled.

"I will not hide in some corner while these things attack my home" he argued back.

"Dammit Jay I'm telling you as your father to shut down those engines and get back inside.

Jay didn't listen once he was at the end of the runway he pulled back on the flight stick and was finally off the ground "I'm airborne. Moving to engage the closest enemy formation".

Once Jay was on altitude level with the other pilots he quickly selected an enemy and waited for the lock on sequence to trigger. "Locked on, fox two" he said before moving his thumb over the tip of the flight stick and pressing the missile launch button.

The missile launched from the fighter and raced through the sky toward the enemy it was locked to and quickly destroyed it. "Target down" Jay announced before rolling to the side to evade an enemy behind him. Locking on to another enemy in front of him Jay fired another missile before banking to the right and firing another shooting down two enemies before looping up "Splash two more".

Quickly disengaging his afterburners Jay's slowed his fighter as he used the wind resistance to make a sharp turn around and shoot down the enemy that was chasing him.

Several pilots were amazed at how quickly Jay had shot down four enemies they had been in the sky for hours and had just barely managed to shoot down more than a handful, but Jay had destroyed four within minutes of taking off "That's one hell of a kid you've got there Masterson" one of the pilots said as he flew next to Jay's father and shot down another enemy.

A Saris pilot entered the conversation and said "I would expect nothing less from the son of Jack Masterson, the Blood Hunter. It is an honor to fight along side you both".

Jay's warning lights went off and he quickly looped up before rolling to the left to avoid an incoming laser from an eye shaped enemy. "I'm switching to special weapons. Multiple lock obtained firing. Fox three" Jay announced after getting behind three enemies.

After shooting down the three enemies Jay moved on to the eye shaped drone that was tailing him "I can't shake this thing. Someone get it off me" he yelled as he dived towards the ground and pulled back up trying to shake the enemy.

"This is Corpse 1 I've got a lock on you friend there. Missile away" the Saris fighter fired two missiles at the eye shaped enemy that was chasing after Jay destroying it "Enemy down. I repeat enemy down".

The pilot's accent was heavy and a bit strained, but Jay thanked him before they both continued engaging the enemy. Jay's father was beyond impressed at how skilled a pilot Jay was, he was airborne for no longer than twenty minutes and had already managed to gain more kills than any other pilot Jay's kill score was almost double his.

"The enemy threat level has dropped under 30% all units take them down" the pilot of the AWACS said as she monitored the battle from a safe altitude. "AWACS give me a position on the nearest enemy formation" Jay said after shooting down another enemy.

"Closest enemy formation is coming in at low altitude bearing 180 altitude 2000".

Jay along with the rest of the pilots over the air base moved to engage the incoming enemy formation. Jay's father Jack, his wingman Rainer the flight lead of the Corpse squadron and Jay led the formation into battle and after another half hour it was finally over the last enemy was shot down and the officers at the control tower announced that the enemies over the city were shot down as well.

Jay's heart was racing, his adrenaline roaring through his body and his sense were sharper than he could ever remember. "Born to be a pilot" he whispered to himself as he landed on the runway and climbed out of the fighter before the taxi trucks came to pull the jet back into the hangar.

It felt weird to be back on the ground Jay's legs felt like jelly and he would occasionally stumble to the side before quickly regaining his balance. Part of him wanted to go back into the sky he had always wanted to fly and now that he had he wanted nothing more than to do it again.

Reentering the main facility Jay's father quickly took him aside and said "You can expect to be punished for doing something that stupid Jay. But I've never been more proud of you; I've always known you were destined for great things and today proves it".

Jay smiled and nodded as the two of them walked back to the control room where they were reunited with his mother Meimei, Hideki and Kira who quickly ran over and embraced him in tears in joy at his safety.

One of the officers that was monitoring the security cameras placed a recording on the main screen and called out "Hey Jack check out you're boy in action". The recording was of Jay after he was sealed off from the safe room and the way he defeated the enemy that was chasing him in the basement corridor. After the recording ended the officer smile "You've got one hell of a brave son Jack".

Jay could feel the eyes of everyone in the room turning to him and he felt the embarrassment of his life, he wanted nothing more than to run back to the fighter he was in and fly away. The base commander walked over to him and saluted him "Jay Masterson. Even though you are a cadet from the junior academy you've distinguished yourself by actions of bravery and dedication. Your actions today will not be forgotten, you not only avenged the deaths of three of my soldiers, but you fought off an enemy invasion with the highest kill record of any first time pilot in our history".

Jay was humbled by the commander's words, but he stood firm and saluted back to him "Thanks you sir". The commander reached over to the right side of his uniform and removed the prestigious Medal of Honor from below his breast pocket "It is with great honor I award this to you young cadet".

Jay stared at the medal in the commander's hand for a brief moment he was extremely confused "I can't accept that sir" he said backing away "You earned that in the line of duty, I can't take something like that from you". The commander closed his hand around the medal and pinned it back to his uniform "Very well. I shall arrange for you to receive one. Cadet or not your deeds today are more than deserving of such an honor".

The commander turned around and returned to his office leaving a red faced Jay behind. "Can we go now?" Jay asked nervously.

Hideki laughed "Hey man you were awesome out there what are you so nervous about. You're a hero man act like one". Kira placed her hand on Hideki's face and pushed him aside "Come on Jay let's go" she said holding her hand out for him.

After Jay took hold of her arm they walked out into the hall and back outside to the runway. Sitting down at a bench against the steel lined stone walls Jay leaned his head against Kira's shoulder and closed his eyes "Thanks for getting me out of there" he said as his consciousness slowly began drifting. Kira smiled at him as she leaned her head against his "Rest for a bit Jay you deserve it" she said gently as she closed her own eyes while her dark green hair flowed over her shoulder and rested between them.

* * *

**A/N.** That's chapter 3. I added a lot more than I originally planned to, but for some reason I just couldn't stop typing.

Jay's hidden talent is finally revealed and his future is finally in motion, how will this affect his relationship with his parents and Hideki and more importantly the most important person in his life Kira. The winds of war have begun, and in due time they will know a new enemy to face other than just the faceless machines they had fought off.


	4. Beginning of a War

Three months ago an unknown enemy attacked Jay's hometown and the combined efforts of the Vrede Air Defense force and their former enemies the Royal Saris Air Force they managed to lock the unknown enemy into a stalemate with the enemy on the slow track to victory.

On their way to a safe room at the South Vrede Air Base Jay and Kira along with three soldiers were separated from the rest of the civilians by a caved in roof. Forced to take the long way around Jay, Kira and the three soldiers moved quickly back to the first floor to take the next staircase and rendezvous with the civilians and commanding officer. However before they entered the stairwell a single of those faceless, mechanical enemies crashed through the wall and immediately began heading towards them.

The 1st sergeant that was leading them ordered them to continue to the safe room while he attempted to distract the metal monster in front of them. Once they reached the basement corridor the mechanical enemy killed the 1st sergeant before making its way after the four that got away. In the basement corridor the other two soldiers sacrificed themselves to give Jay and Kira the time they needed to run. After seeing their sacrifice Jay acted on instinct and retrieved the dead corporal's assault rifle and a single grenade he used as a distraction while he and Kira fled to the next hall.

Upon reaching the safe room hall the blast doors were already closing and Jay knew there was no way both of them were going to make it through. Stopping at last second he pushed Kira under the blast door just as it closed guaranteeing her safety. Forced to backtrack Jay avoided the metallic monster that pursued him and eventually managed to destroy it before returning to the first floor.

After a hard fought decision Jay ran into the hangar area outside and climbed into a fighter jet. With fierce determination in both his heart and eyes he roared down the runway before taking off into the sky. Within mere minutes of flying into his first air battle Jay had already managed to shoot down several enemies and somehow along the lines gave the pilots that were already fighting the morale they needed to fight off these faceless attackers.

Almost an hour after joining the battle Jay, his father and the best pilot from the Saris Air Force led their pilots to victory against these strange machines. After landing Jay returned inside with his father and immediately began receiving praise from everyone soldiers and civilians, making him very uncomfortable. Kira could sense how uncomfortable Jay was feeling and took him outside to get away from all the people that were crowding him sitting on a bench near the runway Kira told Jay how proud she was of him just before he fell asleep with his head resting of her shoulder.

Now three months later the super powers of Gelinkos held several meetings to determine what they should do in the event that their unknown attackers return. The Vrede Prime Minister offered Jay the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions, but the young hero was too nervous to accept it forcing his father to take it in his place. After their house was destroyed in the early stages of the battle Jay and his family were staying with Kira and her older sister Kai, Jay kept the medal he received in a small box and left it on his bookshelf never looking at it for some reason he just didn't feel right having it.

After the world leaders adjourned their meeting they announced that they would increase their military strengths in a combined effort to fight off any future attacks be it by the same faceless machines or anything else.

After the leaders announced their plans for increased military strength Jay's father was requested to lead the Vrede Air Defense Force in training new recruits and Jay's mother Meimei had been asked to teach advanced medical practices to every medic in the military.

With both of his parents busy almost all the time Jay was alone a lot only seeing Kira and Hideki a few times a week. Kira's sister Kai was an engineer and already working for the military while Kira and Hideki were both offered the chance to join which they gladly accepted. Hideki had specialized in security systems while he was in college so the powers that be sent him to help the satellite teams develop a way to detect any unknown entities that enter their planet's gravitational field.

Kira had specialized mainly as an electrician, but she also proved to be a very capable pilot one of the best Vrede had ever seen. Kira while still proud of Jay's heroic actions felt she had to prove that she was just as good as he was. Maybe it was the part of her that wanted to protect him or maybe it was something else, whatever the reason Kira forced herself into the top ranks of the new pilot recruits making her a recruit of interest to the commanding officers.

The months continued to go by and everyone around the world of Gelinkos seemed to be quieting down, but sure enough the enemy did return. Jay had spent the day with Kira and Hideki since they had the day off of training, but just before their day could start the air raid sirens around the city went off. "I knew it was too good to be true" Hideki said as the three of them raced back to the nearest military facility.

After getting into the underground tunnel that connected every military installation throughout the city the three of them hopped into a transport truck and began heading towards the newly fortified air base. The transport trucks had all been outfitted with a mounted .50 cal minigun to protect any enemies that might breach the tunnels.

After arriving at the air base both Jay and Kira quickly slipped away while Hideki caused a minor distraction acting like he suddenly became sick and needed immediate medical attention. Before anyone could realize that Jay and Kira had disappeared they were already at the airstrip and heading for the hangars. Kira climbed into a fighter jet that was just sitting idle while Jay took his father's spare plane. "Sneaking away like that was actually pretty fun" Kira said to Jay over the radio in turn announcing their position to the pilots above.

"You sure you want to do this Kira?" Jay asked her as he got in position at the runway. "Of course I'm sure. Someone has to watch out for you" she replied with a small smile. Jay grunted as he roared down the runway "Once I'm airborne I'll provide cover until you make it up". Kira nodded as she watched Jay take off "Ok taxiing on to the runway now. I'm taking off".

After Kira got her fighter into the sky she set herself in formation alongside Jay's left wing and they both flew into battle again to the annoyance of Jay's father, but since he was already in the air there wasn't much he could do about it. Once the two young pilots entered the battle zone high above the city they looped over the battle and came roaring out of the sky immediately shooting down three enemies before separating to freely engage the rest.

"Fox two!" Kira cried before firing two missiles that scored direct hits on the enemy in front of her successfully destroying the target. Jay wasn't the only natural pilot it seemed as Kira quick took control of the battle and began leading in kill scores while Jay provided support for any damaged planes as they retreated from the battle. "That's two more down!" Kira cried after shooting down two more enemies. "This is AWACS Stonehenge. Enemy threat level has dropped below 20% this battle is ours take them out".

After escorting Skeleton 4 from the battle Jay turned his fighter around and rejoined the fight aiding in the destruction of the final enemies as they tried to retreat from the battle. With the battle over the pilots returned to base and even though Jay had done it once before and Kira while still a rookie was still a full fledged pilot they were still in a bit of trouble for taking off without clearance from the control tower.

Kira was in even more trouble for allowing a civilian to take off in a military vehicle while she was present. After many pleadings and so called negotiations Jay had convinced his father and high command not to suspend Kira from the military "Thanks Jay, but they do have a point" Kira said as they walked out of the command room to rejoin Hideki "I did break the law by allowing you to take that fighter. Next time there probably won't be any negotiations".

Jay didn't respond he knew that Kira had a point and so did the officials, but he made it known in front of every commanding officer in the military as well as in front of his father that if these machines return again he will fight them.

The next day everyone returned to their normal lives, but the world leaders weren't going to take anymore chances. They called a meeting and decided on a joint military operation to build a fleet that can go into space and take the battle to the enemy wherever they might be.

Over the next few months the year was slowly coming to a close and Jay had managed to convince the new high command of the Gelinkos military to allow him to pilot a fighter to join in the fight to protect his home world. Military construction had reached its peak in a matter of months and the first Gelinkos warship was ready to be tested. Every member of the military around the world watched as the massive warship took flight into space and circled the planet in under an hour before returning. With the test successful the commanding officers of the new Gelinkos military announced the soldiers that would become crew members of the new warship including Jay's family and Kira and Hideki.

At the day's end the warship was christened and a name was selected, the nameplate that was bolted to the side of the ship read "Gelinkos warship The Emerald's Edge".

The following week was spent allowing the crew members of the new warship to move their belongings onto the ship and to their rooms. Jack Masterson as the hero of the war that ended 16 years ago was named the ship's captain and given full command over the entire fleet that was being built.

With the crew completely settled in the ship was launched into space and began its first mission. Track down these unknown machines and find out what their true intentions are.

Jay spent his first day familiarizing himself with his new home going over the map several times in his head until he was sure he could navigate the ship in his sleep. Jay was assigned to the Skeleton fighter squadron and Kira was assigned to the Magician support squadron along with Hideki.

The second in command of the ship was a decorated Marine sniper form the Royal Saris military his red hair was combed back and his clothes clean and pressed his green eyes seemed to pierce everyone he looked at everyone on the ship knew him he was the most dangerous person from the Saris military Terry O'Brian.

The commanding officers of the ship were Jack Masterson as captain, Terry O'Brian as the sub commander Michael Yulson as the bridge commander, Elizabeth Carr as the head of the communications department her husband Jason Carr commanded each of the hangar teams across the ship a demanding job considering that there were six hangars on the ship. Meimei Masterson was the head of the medical deck and the final commanding officer was not only the combat trainer of the crew, but the flight lead of the Baron Bomber squadron Captain Elliot Kavai.

Kira and Hideki spent most of their day getting to know their new wingmen from the Magician squadron while Jay was more focused on learning the formations and attack patterns the Skeleton squadron used. The Skeleton fighter squadron was a new squadron formed just a week ago consisting of two Vrede pilots Jay and Skeleton 2 Harris Holland. A single pilot from the republic of Paix, and the final two members were from the Saris Royal Air Force, Skeleton 4 Gregory Willis and the flight lead Caitlyn Bourne.

Caitlyn Bourne was a promising young pilot from Saris due to her exceptional skill she was given the flight lead position of the new Skeleton fighter squadron. Her auburn eyes perfectly matched her hair color her lightly tanned skin seemed to radiate in the light of the room she was only 19, but she had managed to become one of Saris' most promising pilots. While on the ship she seemed like a normal person kind, talkative and willing to listen to anyone who needed someone to talk to, but once in combat she seemed to change. She became aggressive and fiery and there was no hesitation or wavering in the way she commanded her pilots.

Caitlyn was truly an impressive pilot during the flight simulations she had managed to beat her entire squadron in kill scores leading Jay by a few kills. After their first training session Caitlyn stayed behind in the simulator room to go over the flight data from her squadron and was impressed at Jay's performance. A pilot that was 6 years younger than she was had managed to out score and out maneuver another rookie and two trained veteran pilots.

Jay alternated his days between learning combat moves form Captain Kavai and training in the flight simulators. Captain Kavai had known Jay for just over a year now and was always impressed at how quick of a learner he was, but his talents weren't just limited to piloting the pace at which he picked up combat maneuvers far quicker than she thought possible. For the people who already knew Jay it was no secret that he was a fast learner, but his aptitude for picking up on things seemed to be far greater than anyone could've guessed. And for the crew members that just met Jay saw him as a growing pillar that would probably become the heart and soul of the entire crew.

One crew member had taken more of an interest in Jay than the others, Sean Angel a pilot from Saris. The strange thing was that his age was almost twice as old as most of the rookie pilots and the only background he had was he grew up in a small isolated town in the mountain region of Saris. He was a tall man about 6'7 and his short brown hair was shaved to a point where you could actually see his scalp under it. There was an unnerving feeling about him though no one else seemed to notice, but Jay who figured he was just an unsettling guy to be around.

After three weeks of being on the ship the crew made their first encounter with one of the enemy fleets. The alarm sounded throughout the ship as Jay's father announced the sighting of the enemy "All pilots to your fighters now. Prepare to engage the enemy. Orders are to terminate with extreme prejudice".

It only took a few minutes, but the hangar doors on both sides of the massive Gelinkos warship opened up and the fighter squadrons poured out of the ship and entered formation with their respective squadrons. "This is Captain Masterson, all squadrons listen up. Magician squadron defend the Emerald's Edge. Corpse squadron flank the enemy's left, Skeleton squadron box them in from behind. Everyone else go head on and engage the enemy".

The battle quickly picked up and the modifications made to the jets seemed to work perfectly as they flew threw space with no hindrance or limitation on their maneuvers. The battle waged for almost half an hour before the enemy fleet was eliminated and the crew around the ship and the pilots out in space cheered over their victory.

Once the pilots returned to the ship a salvaging crew was sent out to retrieve parts of the enemy for Intel. Considering the fact that their enemies were mechanical they had to have some form of a brain component that would allow them to find out why they were being attacked. It took a few hours, but the engineers finally managed to crack the brain of the machine and after announcing their enemies true intentions the entire crew fell silent with cold fear.

Their enemy's intention was not just to kill them, but to harvest their bodies. "What…what the hell are these things?" Hideki yelled after sitting at a back table in the cafeteria with Jay and Kira "I mean first they attack us unprovoked and now we find out that they're part of some giant harvesting operation. Really I mean how messed up is this".

Kira didn't know what to say, but she knew Jay was thinking something she had seen that look on his face many times and knew all to well that after he comes out of his train of though he ends up with some form of plan. Jay stopped scratching his chin and looked up at both of them "We fight. And we win" he said in a determined tone that seemed to spread to both of them like a virus.

"Yeah we'll fight and we'll win" Hideki cheered his voice almost trailing across the cafeteria "We'll show these harvesters or whatever they are that they picked the wrong planet to piss off".

* * *

**A/N.** I'm on a roll two chapters in one day. Anyway that's chapter 4 I figured I'd keep it more as an introduction to the crew chapter than an actual story line based chapter considering that I never gave a more thorough view into the crew of the Emerald's Edge while working on Shattered Space.


	5. Conquest

A red light illuminated every room and hall throughout the Emerald's Edge, the light was accompanied by a deafening alarm.

"Enemy forces spotted all pilots prep for takeoff. O'Brian to the bridge immediately" Captain Jack Masterson ordered through the loud speakers.

Jay was in the gym sparring with his former teacher Captain Elliot Kavai when the alarm sounded. "Guess we'll finish this another time" Jay panted before running out of the gym with Captain Kavai right next to him.

Quickly arriving at the hangers Jay met with his flight lead Caitlyn Bourne "Ready to go Jay?" she asked in a soothing voice.

"Am I ever not ready?" Jay asked in response as he boarded his fighter following Caitlyn into battle.

Once out in space the hundreds of fighters fell into formation with their respective squadrons and the battle began.

The overlapping voices of the various squadrons filled the radio channels as commanders issued orders and the pilots gave update status of their battle.

"Jay I want you to follow me as we flank the enemy. Harris, Yulov and Gregory get behind them" Caitlyn ordered as she separated from her squadron and rounded to the right side of the enemy fleet.

"Hey princess don't get too far ahead of me" Jay said as Caitlyn got further and further from him "I can't protect you from this far away".

Caitlyn looked back and ordered "Well catch up then the faster we strike the faster we win".

Following his flight lead Jay flew through the battle quickly becoming the leader in kill scores for his squadron with Caitlyn following close behind him. Across the battle field Kira was becoming anxious just sitting in formation with her squadron that formed a defensive line around the Emerald's Edge.

As she watched the battle she kept a close eye on Jay's signature on her HUD following his actions and his flight style.

"Jay you've got three on your tail" Caitlyn yelled after shooting another enemy.

Jay grunted smugly "All part of my plan just watch and see captain".

Jay quickly turned his fighter upward and made a shard loop around firing two missiles destroying one of the harvest drones chasing him before turning his fighter sideways to slip past the other two and repeating the process to shoot down the second one.

Attempting to loop around for a third time Jay tilted upward, but the drone quickly flew to the side to remain behind him "Well looks like this one wised up" Jay said in an impressed tone "Nice to see that they learn from their mistakes".

"Jay look out" Caitlyn cried just as another drone scored a direct hit on Jay's fighter's fuselage.

"Dammit!" Jay grunted as his fighter shook "That's what I get for getting cocky". Checking his fighter's condition he quickly sighed in resignation "Well this sucks I'm too damaged to continue the battle. Withdrawing someone cover me".

"Just follow me young Masterson I'll fly cover for you" Corpse leader said moving to Jay's position.

Flying out of the battle and back to the Emerald's Edge, Jay quickly made it to safety after thanking Corpse 1 he checked his approach vector before making landing preparations "This is Skeleton 5 to hangar teams I'm coming in for emergency landing".

"Roger Skeleton 5. Proceed to hangar bay 4. A repair and medical team will be there to greet you".

Lowering his speed Jay turned toward hangar bay 4 "All right coming in for landing".

Making his final landing checks Jay lowered the landing gear for his fighter, but his luck turned bad. A single harvest drone slipped past the defensive line around the Emerald's Edge and open fired on Jay's fighter causing more damage.

"Oh come on!" Jay yelled when his fighter shook from the impact.

"_Warning!"_ the female voice of the fighter's system alerted "_Damage at 94%. Critical pressure detected. Warning!"_

"Jay!" Kira cried immediately leaving formation to defend her friend.

"Esperer! What are you doing?" Magician 1 yelled after Kira left formation.

"I'm coming Jay" Kira cried easily shooting down the drone that was targeting Jay's fighter.

"Thanks Kira" Jay said before landing in the hangar just as the battle was finished.

With the battle finished the pilots returned to their squadrons and docked in the hangars, after the blast doors closed sealing the exit for the hangar bays the pilots exited their fighters and returned to their daily routines. Jay was annoyed at the fact that he was forced to retreat from the battle due to his own arrogance and had trouble focusing on his combat training against Captain Kavai.

"What's wrong Jay? You're distracted" Kavai asked him after easily throwing him over her shoulder and pushing him away.

Getting to his feet Jay sighed silently "I know it's because I got cocky, but I just can't get over the fact that I had to pull out of that battle. It's bothering me".

"I see" Kavai said quietly "Is that the only reason?"

Jay shrugged "I'm not sure. I don't feel like I have anything to prove and it's not a pride issue. I don't know maybe it's because I don't make mistakes that often"

"Remember what I told you before Jay" Kavai said before charging at him and flipping him around her torso and slamming her open palm into his chest making him slide a few feet back from her.

Quickly scrambling back to his feet Jay did his best to remain calm "Learn from mistakes to become a better Warrior".

Kavai nodded "Exactly.

From the other side of the gym they heard a voice say "Masterson!"

Looking over to the door they saw the second in command of the Emerald's Edge Terry O'Brian.

"Commander O'Brian" Kavai said standing at attention while Jay continued to catch his breath.

"At ease Kavai" O'Brian said walking over to them and looking down at Jay "Masterson".

"Sir" Jay panted resting on one knee.

"Even thought she was unharmed in the battle Ms. Bourne was flying alone out there. You were her wingman in the strike against the enemy's flank and you left her unguarded".

Jay got back to his feet and stared into O'Brian's eyes "If you're that concerned with her safety maybe you should fly on her wing instead of me. I can't be in two places at once it was under her orders that I was separated from her. If you review the battle data you'll see that she flew too far ahead of me. Something I can't be blamed for…sir".

O'Brian looked over to Kavai and then back to Jay "Regardless as a member of the Skeleton squadron you have a secondary duty and that is to protect the heir to the Saris throne. Caitlyn may have convinced her father to let her join the Air Force, but she is still to be under strict watch and protection at all times".

"Here's an idea" Jay said finally catching his breath "How about you and I have a little sparing match "You win I will make protecting the princess my number 1 priority at all times. I win, you take that honor".

Agreeing to Jay's challenge O'Brian left to get ready leaving Jay and Kavai alone in the gym.

"Jay you're aware of what you just did right?" Kavai asked him.

"More or less" Jay replied sitting on the floor "Learn as much as you can about everyone right? How they fight how they go about their day. Everything".

Kavai was speechless for a few seconds before nodding "Not what I meant when I told you that, but I know what you're trying to say".

Twenty minutes later O'Brian returned to the gym along with several other people. Somehow word had spread throughout the ship that Jay and O'Brian were going to spar with one another and all work across the ship came to a stop as every crew member activated the nearest monitor to watch.

"Just because you're the captain's son doesn't mean I'm gonna hold back on you Jay" the commander said stepping onto the mat and meeting Jay's eyes.

"Skip the talk O'Brian" Jay said "Let's get to the good part".

Once Jay set himself in his fighting stance O'Brian charged at him and feigned a strike before swinging around and nailing Jay in the back of his neck with his elbow. Falling to his knees Jay clenched at the back of his neck trying to shrug off the pain, but O'Brian didn't give him any reprieve.

Wrapping his arm around Jay's neck O'Brian lifted him off the ground before throwing him over his shoulder in an inverted suplex. Quickly getting to his feet O'Brian waited for Jay to claw his way back up before knocking him down with an uppercut.

After being hit Jay fell back and remained motionless on the mat for a couple of minutes before O'Brian declared himself the winner and began walking away.

In the engineering section of the ship Hideki and Kira watched O'Brian level Jay with the uppercut and lowered their heads when they saw O'Brian walking away.

"That was brutal" Hideki said quietly.

Kira remained silent it was the second time in one day she saw Jay beaten so badly and she couldn't stand the sight of it.

Getting up from his chair Hideki told Kira he was going to get back to work, but tripped when he turned around and landed on the power switch to the speakers for the entire ship. The speakers buzzed to life just as Hideki pushed himself off the control terminal activating the radio across the ship in the process.

Across the ship the speakers buzzed to life before they began playing the song Rebirthing by Skillet, a song from the Earth days that had survived the years of colonization.

In the gym everyone heard the song as it began playing and were confused as to why it was playing in the first place, but after someone called their attention to Jay who had began stirring everyone including O'Brian returned their eyes to the young white haired pilot as he rolled back onto his shoulders and kicked up from the floor.

Stumbling back a few steps Jay regained his balance and glared at O'Brian before holding his arm straight out and folding his fingers back several times gesturing for him to bring it.

Falling for the taunt O'Brian turned around and charged at Jay who was ready. Sidestepping O'Brian Jay quickly got behind him and kicked him in the back of his left knee before ducking under a back swing from O'Brian.

Evading several strikes Jay threw a high kick as a feign which succeeded, O'Brian pulled back his attack leaving his arm wide open and Jay used his leg to wrap around O'Brian's arm and drag him to the mat. Placing both of his feet against O'Brian's shoulder Jay pulled his arm back several times in an armbar before releasing the hold and rolling off of his opponent.

Getting back to his feet Jay waited for O'Brian to get up before spearing him back down and chaining the attack into a grounded triangle choke hold. Holding the move for a few seconds Jay released it and rolled away and back to his feet once again waiting for O'Brian to return to his feet.

Once O'Brian began stirring Jay threw his arm up silently motioning for him to get up as he began stomping his right leg on the ground more and more rapidly.

When O'Brian got up and turned around Jay sidestepped toward him and lunged his right leg forward in a high kick hitting O'Brian in his jaw and knocking him down.

When O'Brian fell back Jay fell to one knee and kept his eyes on O'Brian who remained motionless just as the speakers across the ship were turned off.

After a short wait captain Kavai walked over to O'Brian to check his condition and gasped when she saw the glazed look in his eyes. Getting to her feet she informed everyone that he was unconscious which meant that Jay was the victor.

Several members of the crew in the gym began cheering as Kavai helped Jay out of the gym leaving an unconscious O'Brian behind.

Several hours later Jay returned to the hangar to help repair his damaged fighter although he was still sore from his match with O'Brian.

"Nice going in that match kid it was really something" Hideki said after he and Kira joined him in the hangar.

"Yeah that was pretty fun" Jay laughed before seeing something gleam under his fighter's armor.

"Check this out" he muttered as he reached under the armor plate and pulled the gleaming object loose.

"What is it?" Hideki asked.

Using a rag to wipe off the grease that covered the object Jay's muttered "Cool" before revealing it to be a medium sized coin made of pure emerald.

"It's beautiful" Kira said taking it from his hand and holding it up to the light.

"Nice find there Jay" Hideki said as Kira handed the coin back to him.

"I think I found a trophy" Jay smirked as he placed the coin in his pocket and left the hangar with Kira and Hideki.

The three of them spent the next couple of hours walking around the bio-dome section of the ship enjoying the plant and small amount of wild life. "I'd better get back to work" Hideki said before leaving in a hurry.

Once again Kira and Jay were alone and Kira smiled at Jay when their eyes met "I'm proud of you Jay, but please don't do anything that reckless again".

"Don't worry Kira" Jay said leaning against the rail and looking down at a small flock of birds that were flying over the artificial park "Next time I'll challenge someone in a more refined manor. I just needed to get O'Brian to back off of me a bit".

"Well" Kira said in a musing tone "How about you and I have a little match tomorrow?"

Surprised by her challenge Jay gazed into her eyes and blushed deeply before looking away and smiling "You're on" he replied as they leaned into one another.

* * *

**A/N.** There's chapter 5 ladies and gentlemen enjoy.


	6. The Streak Begins

Yesterday, during a grueling battle against the harvest Jay's fighter had taken severe damage and the young pilot was forced to retreat from the battle. After the battle ended Jay returned to the gym continuing hand to hand combat practice with Captain Elliot Kavai.

While the two were sparring Sub-Commander Terry O'Brian entered the gym and harshly reminded Jay that since he is a part of Skeleton squadron his first priority is to protect princess Caitlyn Bourne at all times. Immediately annoyed by his comments Jay challenged O'Brian to a 'sparring' match with the stakes being that if he won Jay would do as he was told and protect Caitlyn at all times, but if Jay won O'Brian would take that position in his stead.

When the match started O'Brian easily overpowered Jay and seemingly defeated him, leaving the young pilot motionless on the floor, but just as he started to walk away Jay began stirring before kicking up from the floor. Saying that the match wasn't over yet Jay taunted O'Brian into attacking him again.

Falling for his taunt O'Brian charged at Jay who sidestepped his strike before quickly unleashing several strikes and throws that left O'Brian unconscious for hours. Victorious in his match Jay returned to the hangar to try and repair the damage to his fighter along side Kira and Hideki. During the repairs Jay saw a small glimmering object under the armor of his fighter and removed it.

Cleaning away the grim that covered the object it was revealed to be a coin made of emerald. Immediately calling it his trophy Jay left the hangar with both Kira and Hideki for a leisurely walk around the ship's bio-dome before they decided to turn in for the night.

After Hideki left to finish up his work Kira curious to see just how far Jay had come challenged him to a match, which he gladly accepted.

In the hangar Jay was speaking with Jason Carr leader of the hangar teams. Carr informed Jay that his fighter was too damaged to be repaired and was going to be scrapped; the good news was that they were making their return trip to Gelinkos and his fighter would be replaced once they made it home.

Not knowing what to do with the next few hours Jay decided to head towards the bridge to talk to his father in hopes he wasn't too busy.

Arriving on the bridge Jay immediately saw O'Brian keeping watch on Princess Caitlyn Bourne through the monitors. Giving O'Brian an arrogant smile Jay walked over to his father who had just finished a transmission back to their home world.

"Hey Jay" he said looking down from the captain's seat "Need something?"

"Yeah how long until we get back home?" he asked his father with a stern gaze.

"Feeling homesick already?" his father laughed "Surt says we'll be home within two days".

Jay grunted lowly "All right second question about my fighter".

"It will be replaced…" Jack's voice trailed off for a few seconds as he began thinking about something "How would you like to perform a test flight on a prototype fighter we're developing?"

Jay's eyes widened when he heard his father's question "A prototype? You want me to test it? Why?"

Jack sighed before answering "Son in only six battles you've proven yourself an outstanding pilot and the entire crew knows it as well as high command back home. Currently you're ranking as the fourth best pilot in our entire Air Force".

"Only fourth?" Jay scoffed "I intend to rectify that error"

Jack scoffed at his son's comment with a smile before waving for him to leave and returning to work.

After leaving the bridge Jay bumped into Captain Kavai, "Oh Jay I've been looking for you" she said with an eager smile.

"I deny everything" Jay said quickly.

Getting a small chuckle out of Jay's remark Kavai handed him an old, worn paperback book entitled "Samuel Rege, The Holy Knight".

"Thanks" Jay exclaimed before flipping the book over and reading the summary "So this is a novel adaptation of that old legend then?"

Kavai nodded "Yep. Kira said you like old books like that so I figured I'd pass it on to you. Considering you're the best student I've ever taught".

Jay smirked as he tucked the book under his arm "You know since I'm having a match with Kira in the next hour why don't you play referee? You'll be neutral in the matter right?"

Kavai had to think for a few seconds to completely acknowledge Jay's request. "All right Jay. I'll be your referee, but if you lose I'll never let you live it down".

"See you at the top of the hour then" Jay said before walking down the hall.

In the cafeteria Kira was talking to her older sister Kai discussing their various topics from the harvest enemy to their daily routines on board the Emerald's Edge.

"So why did you challenge him again?" Kai asked her sister changing the topic.

Kira shrugged "I'm not really sure. But I can't wait for it to start".

Kai smiled and shook her head at her sister's enthusiasm before becoming silent.

Both of them were deep in thought most of the cafeteria was empty except a few crew members that were chatting quietly and the cleaning staff.

"How do you feel about him?" Kai asked breaking the silence.

"Who?" Kira asked.

"Jay. How do you feel about him?"

Kira looked at the edge of the circular table and remained silent for a few seconds while she gathered her thoughts "Obviously I care for him a lot. We both do we've known him since he was born".

Kai nodded "Yes, but you've known him longer and been around him more. I worked and studied all the time".

Kira shrugged "I know I love him…I just don't know what kind of love it is".

Kira and Kai continued talking with each other until Kira's watch beeped marking 9 p.m. "Well its time" she said standing up from the chair and leaving the cafeteria with her sister and heading for the gym.

Entering the gym Kira walked back to the shower room and changed into a sports bra and sweat pants before returning to the gym and stepping onto the mat to wait for Jay.

Two minutes passed by and Jay had still not shown up. The small crowd that gathered around the gym began whispering while Kira began to worry.

Captain Kavai looked down at her watch and sighed before walking over to Kira and reaching for her wrist.

Once Kavai grabbed Kira's wrist the lights around the gym went out and a small spotlight was placed on the door way as Skillet's Rebirthing started playing.

Not long after the song started the doors swung open and Jay walked in raising his arms like he had already won. Stepping onto the mat Jay continued to showboat until the lighting returned to normal.

"You're an idiot" Kira said trying to conceal the smile on her face.

"What's wrong with having a little fun?" Jay asked her before Kavai stepped away from them and raised her left arm above her head.

"Ready?" Kavai asked looking at both of them. Kira and Jay both nodded and Kavai swiftly dropped her hand down yelling "Begin!"

Once that word was spoken Kira and Jay quickly locked into a grapple and began vying for control. Kira's height over Jay eventually gave her the leverage she needed to overpower him and drop down to a headlock which Jay easily countered by throwing her over his shoulder.

Shuffling back from Kira Jay waited for her to get back to her feet before running over to her and grabbing her by the head and flipping over her dropping her face to the mat.

Rolling back to his feet Jay attempted to follow up on his chain, but Kira countered the second he grabbed her.

Once Jay lifted Kira up he wrapped his arm around her head and threw her arm over his shoulder setting up for a suplex, but Kira quickly countered by kneeing him in the stomach and dropping him with a double hook DDT.

Rolling away from him Kira quickly got back to her feet just as Jay pushed up from the mat.

Once Jay got up Kira feigned a kick which Jay easily caught in his hands, but Kira jumped up and used her other leg to kick the side of his head making him stumble away a few feet.

Kira quickly followed up on her attack and kicked Jay in his mid section making him hunch over. Once Jay bent forward Kira grabbed the side of his head before turning around and dropping back slamming the front side of his neck against her shoulder.

The stunner seemed to work as Jay stumbled back before falling to the mat. Kira decided to make sure she had the victory and crouched against her knees as she waited for Jay to get to his feet.

Slowly getting back to his feet Jay pushed up from his knees and turned around just as Kira sprinted over to him. Grabbing Jay by the side of his head Kira lunged forward feet first attempting to use her moment to drop Jay face first, but Jay was able to counter by pushing her away from him once she jumped.

Kira's built up momentum made it hard for her to stop for a few steps giving Jay the opening he needed. Once Kira stopped stumbling and turned around Jay ducked under her arm and placed his own across her neck before lifting her up and dropping her on her back.

Quickly scrambling back to his feet Jay back away from Kira and began stomping his foot on the ground just like he did against O'Brian the previous day.

Slowly getting back to her feet Kira shook the cobwebs from her head before turning just as Jay lunged forward throwing his leg out aiming right for her chin.

With his kick a failed attempt Jay stumbled only to turn around and be speared off his feet.

Once the spear landed Kira pinned Jay's shoulders to the ground and Kavai rushed over and quickly slid onto her stomach and began counting.

"One…Two…"

Just before Kavai's hand came down a third time Jay forced his left shoulder off the mat and pushed Kira off of him before rolling away.

Kavai quickly backed away from the two opponents as they both got back up. Kira slowly and painfully pushing herself back up while Jay raised his legs up and rolled back onto his shoulder before kicking up from the ground.

Both of them realized that they didn't have much strength left and whoever struck first would end the match, in an act of desperation both of them charged at one another.

Kira waited until last second before throwing her arm out to clothesline Jay.

With just a couple of inches between them Kira thought she had the match won, but to her surprise Jay ducked under her arm at last second and was now behind her.

In a state of shock Kira turned around just as Jay did and before throwing his leg out and scoring a direct kick on her chin knocking her to the mat.

After the kick landed Jay fell to one knee before falling over on top of Kira and Kavai rushed over to count the pin.

"One…Two…Three"

After her hand came down for a third time Kavai pushed up from the mat declaring Jay the victor.

Kavai grabbed Jay's wrist and raised his arm just as several members of the crew that were watching began cheering.

Jay forced himself back to his feet and stumbled a bit before catching his balance and looked down at Kira just as she began pushing herself back up. Jay enjoyed his match against Kira, but part of him couldn't stand the idea of harming her in anyway.

Forcing himself to walk straight Jay helped Kira to her feet and walked her over to the bench and sat her down. "Nice kick" she said painfully.

"Sorry" Jay replied weakly avoiding eye contact with her.

"Don't be" Kira smiled "What kind of soldier would I be if I couldn't take a few hits. Besides it was kind of fun like an extra extreme workout".

Both of them laughed weakly still trying to shrug off the pain coursing through their bodies. Just as Jay was about to sit down Hideki walked over to him and gave him a friendly slap on his back.

Jay almost buckled under the pain, but shook it off as he looked over his shoulder at his friend "I'm gonna go with ow" he said.

"I have to admit Jay. That was pretty fun to watch" Hideki said before looking over to Kira "You going to be ok?"

Kira nodded as she rubbed the left side of her neck while rolling her shoulder back.

Hideki looked back down at Jay and gave him a mischievous smile "So what do you say kiddo. You and me tomorrow?"

"To hell with that" Jay grunted as he walked back over to the mat "Tomorrow is my day off we're doing this now".

Hideki looked over to Kira and then back to Jay as he wearily stood in the center of the mat "You sure Jay? You are pretty beat up it wouldn't be that much of a match".

Jay looked over to Captain Kavai and told her to start the match.

Kavai raised her hand and dropped it yelling "Begin!"

Hideki didn't argue any further he walked onto the mat and waited for Jay to falter in his stance before rushing over to him.

Hideki lunged at Jay with his arm out attempting to hit a flying clothesline, but Jay ducked under it and stumbled forward as Hideki flew over him. Falling to one knee Jay pushed himself back to his feet and stumbled back before spinning around and hitting Hideki with the same kick he delivered to Kira.

The kick landed right on Hideki's jaw and Jay dropped down to cover him as Kavai counted again.

"One…Two…Three"

Kavai's hand came down a third time and Jay pushed himself off of Hideki and raised his own arm in victory.

"That was easy enough" he smiled as the crew members gathered in the gym began cheering once again.

Attempting to leave the gym the fatigue finally got to him and Jay stumbled to the side before falling. Luckily Kavai was close enough to catch him before he cracked his skull on the hard steel floor.

The pain and exhaustion running through Jay's body was so intense he could barely feel it, everything felt numb, but he still managed to smile as Kavai helped him up with Kira's help.

"Worth it" he smiled as they helped him out of the gym and to the medical bay.

* * *

**A/N.** And that's chapter 6.

Jay's streak has finally begun. His conquest of his fellow crew members has started and he is 3-0. Who will his next opponent be?...Well you'll just have to wait for the next chapter now won't you? (Insert maniacal evil laughter here)


	7. New Enemy, New Squadron

Finally. After several months the Emerald's Edge had returned home to Gelinkos. And its crew couldn't be happier to see their friends and family that they left behind.

The massive warship landed at the newly constructed airstrip built over the ocean and the crew began exiting the ship in groups.

"Ah back home" Hideki said in a fake exhausted tone "Clean air, warm sunny beaches, beautiful women in bikinis absolutely nothing could be better".

Jay noticed that Kira gave Hideki an annoyed look which confused him for a short time before he shrugged it off "So what are the two of you going to do for the next couple of days?"

Kira looked down at Jay and gave him a 'I have no idea' smile. "I'm probably going to go see my mom with Kai; I can imagine she's pretty worried about us".

"I'm gonna go see my folks as well. After that I'll probably just kick back on the beach or something" Hideki said before turning to Kira "Unless you'd rather have dinner Kira".

Kira gave a friendly scoff as she walked past him "Maybe one day, but not this day".

"See ya Hideki I'm going to go have some fun" Jay smiled leaving Hideki alone to plan his day.

"Well I guess it's just me then" Hideki said to himself before walking off. "What's that?" he wondered stopping in mid step when he noticed another war style ship docked at the other port base far into the distance.

Shrugging it off Hideki continued down the pier and back to the mainland.

Arriving at the end of the pier Hideki met with his parents James and Millie Hemmings.

"Welcome back son. How was it?" Hideki's father asked.

Hideki shrugged "Nothing too bad just a few fights with whatever those machines are".

"So no news on what they are or why they attacked us huh?" James asked his son.

Hideki shook his head "No. Nothing".

Hideki felt his stomach turn as he lied to his parents. He didn't like it, but he along with everyone else on the Emerald's Edge were forbidden to tell any civilian about what the true purpose of those strange machines was.

"Well it doesn't matter. I'm just glad you're home safe" his mother said before the three of them walked back to their car to head home.

A few hours after returning home, Jay was wondering the halls of the Vrede airbase while his father was in a meeting with the higher ups. Meimei his mother was restocking and ordering medical supplies which left Jay alone for a while.

Hearing a couple of people talking at the end of the hall Jay rounded the corner to see 2nd Lieutenant Eric Flynn talking with another man that he didn't recognize, but it was obvious by the way he was dressed he was a military soldier.

"Lieutenant Flynn" Jay called from the corner before walking over to them.

"Oh Jay what's up?" Flynn asked as the young pilot walked over to him.

"Just walking around for now. Who's this?"

"Oh yes. This is umm…" Flynn was thinking for a moment trying to remember the man's name "Right this is Ron Yeul. He's a soldier from a distant planet called…Tarak was it?"

Ron nodded "Yes Tarak. We were tracking some kind of strange machines we encountered, but we lost them somewhere around this part of the galaxy".

"Well by the way you were describing them" Flynn began they sound like the same things that attacked us".

"Eric" someone called from the other end of the hall.

Looking down the hall the three of them saw 2nd Lieutenant Arthias Flynn. Eric Flynn's younger brother.

"What is it Arthias?" Eric asked when his brother got closer.

"Commander O'Brian what's to speak with you about something".

"What about?"

"I'm not sure. Something about switching squadrons I think".

Eric sighed "Very well. Hey, Jay why don't you show our guest around for a bit".

"Don't have anything better to do" Jay said before the brothers Flynn walked away.

"Well let's go" Jay said in a bored tone turning around and walking back the way he came with the Tarak soldier following behind him.

Showing Ron around the airbase Jay explained several things making sure that he didn't say anything he thought to be classified or important.

"This is our medical facility" Jay said opening the door to the infirmary of the airbase "I'd like to say you'll find the best of the best doctors here, but I'm not sure what the rest of the galaxy holds".

Ron gave a smug smile as he watched the doctors walking slowly around the infirmary checking all the equipment even though there weren't any patients. "I love to see hard working men go about their business" Looking down to Jay he grunted before looking back at the doctors "Men are the best of anything".

Jay didn't comment he was a bit confused as to what Ron meant, but didn't care to say anything. Nodding his head behind them he turned around to lead Ron out, but was met by Caitlyn Bourne, leader of the Skeleton fighter squadron and heir to the throne of the Saris royal family.

"Something I can do for you princess?" Jay asked meeting her eyes.

"Yeah, you can help me with some squadron reports" Caitlyn told him before looking behind him at the Tarak soldier "Who's he? He looks like he's freaking out".

Jay looked behind him to see Ron with a terrified look on his face, like he had just seen some kind of monster.

"Yo…Ron you feeling ok?" Jay asked turning to face him.

Ron didn't answer he looked at Caitlyn with a frozen, frightened expression.

Caitlyn took a step forward and said his name "Uh. Ron are you ok?"

Ron snapped he screamed "Stay back". Quickly reaching around his waist he pulled out his combat knife and held it tightly in his hand "Monster!" he screamed as he swung the knife at Caitlyn.

The second Ron stepped forward with his knife poised to attack Caitlyn; Jay hit him dead in the center of his neck with a curved right hook. Ron stumbled to the side and fell over a bed cart before choking uncontrollably.

"Are you all right Caitlyn?" Jay asked quickly turning around to face the princess.

Caitlyn nodded "Yeah I'm fine, but what's with him?"

Jay shrugged "I have no idea. You'd think he never saw a woman before. Regardless we'd better report this".

Caitlyn nodded before ordering two of the doctors to detain the Tarak soldier.

The two of them quickly left the infirmary and immediately heard several gunshots from down the hall.

"This isn't going to be good" Jay said sprinting down the hall with Caitlyn right behind him.

Arriving at the corner Jay cautiously peaked his head around to see Captain Elliot Kavai holding her arm and breathing heavily as she looked down at the body of another Tarak soldier.

"Captain Kavai!" Caitlyn called as her and Jay ran over to her.

"I didn't have a choice" Kavai panted "He drew his gun and shot me in the arm, I had to kill him".

"I'm starting to think we can't trust these guys" Jay said as he grabbed the emergency phone on the wall and called the Commander's office.

"Commander Kelthson" the Commander answered.

"Commander Kelthson this is Jay Masterson calling from the hall 4T-1 there's been some trouble".

"What kind of trouble" the Commander asked in an annoyed tone.

"Captain Kavai was shot in the arm and princess Bourne was attacked".

"What!"

"Yes sir. Two Tarak soldiers attacked both of them without warning. One is detained in the infirmary Captain Kavai shot the other in self defense".

"Very well" the Commander said "I'm sending a team down there to retrieve the detained soldier take Captain Kavai to the infirmary and don't breathe a word of this until I find out what's going on".

"Sir!" Jay said firmly before hanging up the phone.

"Well?" Caitlyn said as she continued to hold a torn piece of cloth over Kavai's wound.

"Let's get the captain to the infirmary. And we're not to tell anyone about this until further notice" Jay explained as he ripped off a piece of his T-shirt and tied it flattened over Kavai's wound as he walked her and Caitlyn back to the infirmary.

Back at the infirmary Jay, Caitlyn, Kavai and the medical staff waited in silence for any update on the current situation. First an hour went by and then another…Three in a half hours passed until a small group of Gelinkos soldiers entered the infirmary.

"We've got a serious problem" the first soldier said.

"What's going on?" Both Jay and Caitlyn asked.

"Those soldiers from Tarak found out that one of their soldiers was shot and killed and they immediately began firing on the base's staff.

"What!" Caitlyn cried.

"Princess Bourne" one of the soldiers said quickly rushing forward.

The soldier was wearing the specific uniform indicating that he was a personal royal guard for the Saris royal family. Kneeling down in front of the princess he said "I've been ordered to escort you to the Commander's office and keep you there until the situation has been dealt with please come with me".

Caitlyn gave Jay and Kavai a worried look, but they reassured her by nodding and she left with her guard.

"So what are we going to do?" Jay asked the soldiers.

"We along with the rest of the soldiers are ordered to capture and detain any Tarak soldiers we find we're not to kill them unless necessary. Commander Kelthson is trying to contact the leader of the Tarak ship that's docked at the pier, but no luck so far".

Without warning the entire medical building shook violently and an air raid siren blared throughout the entire airbase.

"What the hell?" one of the soldiers yelled before the building shook again.

"Air attack. All able pilots scramble immediately defend the base" the Commander yelled over the loud speakers.

"I'm going out" Jay said "Captain Kavai take care of yourself".

"Jay no" Kavai yelled, but her call landed on deaf ears Jay had bolted from the infirmary and was legging it down the halls making his way to the hangars.

The alarm continued blaring and the Commander of the airbase continued issuing orders for pilots to take off and support staff to help where needed.

Finally at the hangars Jay watched as the last fighter took off and yelled as he kicked the ground "There has to be another fighter somewhere".

Spotting one of the mechanics he rushed over to him and asked if there were any fighters left.

The mechanic was skeptical of answering considering Jay's age, but spotted Jay's military ID and told him there were no fighters left.

"That can't be. There has to be at least one" Jay cried.

"Well there is one, but it's…"

"Where?" Jay demanded cutting the mechanic off.

"It's still a prototype fighter are you sure you want to take it?" the mechanic asked.

"Where is it? We don't have time to be standing here".

The mechanic pointed over to the reserve hangar "The prototype fighter is in their, if you're going up take care it's had a test flight, but no combat testing yet".

Thanking the mechanic Jay quickly sprinted over to the reserve hangar and bolted in through the door. Looking up at the prototype fighter Jay was in awe. It had a slender body with delta style wings and its tail wings were sticking out in angles also in a delta style, it had dual air intakes under the wings and a dark green color scheme.

"Let's get to it" Jay said climbing the ladder and into the fighter.

Looking around the controls he took them in until he was sure he had them memorized.

Activating the fighter he activated the radio as he taxied onto the runway "This is Jay Masterson. I'm taking off".

"Roger that Masterson. Take care of yourself up there" the control tower replied as Jay's fighter began roaring down the runway.

Once he lifted off the ground and the afterburners kicked in Jay announced "I'm air born radar team give me the position of the nearest enemy formation".

"Bearing 280, altitude 6000".

"Roger that. On my way" Jay replied as he flew toward the battle.

Leveling himself to the altitude level of the enemy and the Gelinkos fighters Jay entered the battle.

The air battle waged on, regardless of there reasons for attacking Tarak was losing the battle at a fast pace. "Enemy threat level has dropped below 60% all units continue with the operation".

"This is Captain Rainer. New enemy formation approaching from the east".

"Captain Masterson here. Rainer fall in next to me we'll intercept them head on".

"Dad be careful" Jay said after shooting down his third enemy.

"I'll be fine you just worry about yourself Jay".

As Jay's father and his former wingman flew off to intercept the enemy Jay focused on the enemy in front of him as he and the handful of Gelinkos fighters continued to shoot them down one by one with little effort.

"Are these guys really pilots?" one of the fighter pilots asked.

"Fool 4 don't get overconfident just shoot them down" Fool 1 ordered.

"Roger that captain" Fool 4 replied.

The battle continued for another hour until it became clear that Tarak was not going to win the battle and they began to retreat.

"The enemy is retreating" Captain Rainer called over the radios "Should we pursue?"

"Negative" the AWACS pilot said "Let them pull back we have another problem to deal with. Our early warning satellites have spotted a formation of those mechanical creatures approaching at high speed".

"Are you serious!" Skeleton 3 cried "I'm almost out of ammo I'm returning to base to rearm".

"All damaged and Winchester craft return to base to rearm and refuel" the AWACS pilot ordered "Any fighters too damaged to continue combat are barred from taking off again".

In a massive aluminum cloud the fighters returned to base to rearm and refuel, only four pilots returned to the sky.

"Captain Masterson here I'm heading back out"

"Captain Rainer here I'm taking off"

"Jay Masterson here I'm taking off as well"

"Kira Esperer reporting. Sorry I'm late. I'm going up".

"What the?...Everyone take off immediately" AWACS cried.

Too late, the harvest fleet had already attacked the airbase. Several hangars were leveled and many more were extremely damaged due to the previous attack and now the runway was too damaged for any additional aircraft to take off.

This attack seemed too much of a convenience for the enemy; they were waiting for this opening.

"They've crippled the runway we can't take off" Fool 1 announced before his radio cut to static as his fighter was destroyed on the runway.

"We've lost the ability to launch any more fighters" AWACS said "The four of you that managed to get up are our only hope take them out I know you can do it".

"Roger that" Jay's father said as he set himself in front of the four plane formation with Rainer to his left, Jay to his right and Kira on Jay's right.

"All right you three let's do it. Engage and destroy all enemies" Jack ordered.

"Roger" the three wingmen said in unison before separating from each other and engaging the enemy.

With the new battle now underway everyone on the ground watched in timeless anticipation praying that the four fighters above them could stave off the enemy.

"Rainer here, splash two targets".

"This is Kira, confirmed kill on two enemy targets".

"This is Jay. I've shot down another one"

"Enemy threat levels are dropping keep it up you four destroy them all".

"Dad to your left" Jay cried.

Looking up to his left side Jack jerked his fighter's flight stick to the side narrowly avoiding a kamikaze attack by one of the harvest drones "Thanks for the heads up Jay".

"Kira here, another four enemies downed"

"This is Captain Masterson. I've shot down another group".

On the ground the anticipation of everyone around the base as well as across the city was growing more and more as the four planes above them were shooting down the enemy one by one it didn't seem possible for just four pilots to take on so many opponents at once and still succeed.

"That's another one for me" Jay yelled before shooting down three more "Make it four"

"Kill confirmed" Rainer cried.

"Enemy threat level has dropped under 10% now's the time. Destroy them" AWACS ordered before seeing a large signature on its radar "Hold it. I've confirmed a large hit on the radar heading for your position. I can't tell what it is, but it's definitely the enemy".

"Leave it to us" Jack said after shooting down the last enemy "Return to formation and follow me".

The four planes returned to formation with one another as they flew head on to meet the new enemy.

"What is that thing?" Kira cried seeing the massive ship ahead of them.

"I'm getting multiple hits on my radar their all coming from that thing" Rainer said.

The massive enemy ship ahead of them suddenly began spewing hundreds of enemy drones from both sides as it continued to advance towards the four fighters.

"A carrier?" Jay wondered "This isn't looking good".

"Just focus on taking down that carrier Jay" Jack ordered as the formation once again split up.

Immediately entering combat once again the four pilots shot missile after missile scoring direct hits on the carrier, but only minor visible damage was shown.

"This is a tough one" Rainer said before taking down a pursuing enemy.

"Stand by analyzing the enemy craft" AWACS ordered as it began running scans of the carrier ship.

Continuing to shoot down cube type after cube type while waiting on the analysis of the enemy to be complete the four pilots reserved their ammunition as much as possible, but if they didn't end this battle quick defeat was certain.

"Anytime now!" Jay yelled after his ammo count for his machine guns zeroed out.

"Analysis complete" AWACS announced "The enemy carrier has a weak spot on its front side at the head of the ship. Strike it with everything you've got".

"You heard the man all units attack" Jack ordered "Give it everything you've got don't let up until its dead".

The four pilots once again targeted the carrier and open fired on it while evading the smaller enemies around them.

"We're sending reinforcements from the Emerald's Edge just keep going until they get there" AWACS announced.

"JUST DIE ALREADY" Rainer yelled in frustration after firing the last of his missiles.

"Captain Rainer out of firepower retreat from the battle at once" AWACS ordered.

"Take it down guys" Rainer said as he flew down to low altitude and fled the battle.

"Two minutes until reinforcements arrive just keep firing".

"I've got a lock" Jay and Kira said in unison as they locked on to the enemy carrier "Fox Two".

Firing a single missile each everyone watched as time seemed to slow down as the two missiles flew towards the enemy carrier.

The second the missiles hit the carrier several explosions began chaining throughout the ship the damage had finally been done.

"Damage confirmed" Jack yelled as he flew by the carrier's head "It seems to have lost the ability to launch additional drones".

"BLAST IT OUT OF THE SKY!" AWACS ordered in an overly charged tone.

Both Jay and Kira flew side by side with their fighters on their sides as they locked onto the enemy carrier one last time "Locked on" Jay yelled.

"Fire!" Kira cried as they both pressed the release button for the missiles.

The final two missiles sped toward their target just as the glare from the setting sun reflected off of them giving them for a brief second a light of hope just before they impacted on the enemy carrier destroying it.

"Enemy confirmed destroyed WE DID IT!" Kira cried just as the reinforcements arrived to mop up the last of the enemies.

Hours later a massive party was held at the air base celebrating the victory that the Gelinkos Air Force rightfully earned after a long day.

There was a lot of talk around the entire base about the events of the day from the arrival of the Tarak fleet, to their attack and of course the four lone pilots that fought back and entire harvest fleet alone. There was even talk wishful talk about those four pilots becoming a new squadron one that could lead the Gelinkos Air Force to victory.

At about 4 a.m. Jay had groggily stumbled into the crew quarters and collapsed on one of the beds completely exhausted.

From outside the room both Kira and Hideki watched as Jay collapsed on the bed immediately falling asleep.

"He really had a long day" Hideki joked.

Kira nodded "Yes he did. Everyone did" Kira paused as she smiled at Jay as he slept and then looked over to Hideki "Today's his birthday you know. Think we should do something special for him?"

Hideki nodded before getting an evil grin on his face "I can think of a few things".

"Not like that" Kira said immediately cutting him off "I mean something more than just the usual. After everything he's done he really does deserve something special you know".

"Yeah I know, but so do you, you've done just as much" Hideki told her.

Kira shook her head "Thanks, but I haven't done nearly as much as he has".

Stepping away from the door and closing it Kira and Hideki walked down the hall to the next crew quarters.

"All the same" Hideki began "The two of you are the most important people in my life. And there's nothing I wouldn't do for either of you…" stopping to look Kira in her eyes Hideki continued "Especially you Kira".

Kira's heart stopped as she heard those words "Hideki…" she said quietly as he reached over to her and gently pulled her to him.

Closing her eyes Kira accepted Hideki's embrace and the two of them stood there as if the world around them no longer existed, it was just them together.

* * *

**A/N.** Aaaand finally there's chapter 7. Enjoy, read, review, love, blah blah blah all that jazz.

It took me forever to find a basis for the chapter and this is what I set on.


	8. All in Fun and in Love

"Its official" The Prime Minister of the Republic of Paix announced once the press conference began.

The President of the Pokoju Federation immediately took over "After their heroic fight against an enemy ambush the four pilots; Captain Jack Masterson, Captain Rainer Altman, Jay Masterson and Kira Esperer. These four have been named heroes and are officially now part of a four man squadron dubbed The Holy Knights".

The Queen of Saris took the stand "Due to their heroic and valiant efforts not only are these four pilots each receiving the Golden Medal of Protection for protecting and saving thousands of lives, but they are to be moved to the front line of our war effort".

Once the Queen of Saris was done the President of Vrede took the stand next to her after bowing to her "With this new squadron fighting on the front lines we believe that this will not only boost morale for our soldiers fighting so far from home, but will also show our enemy be it machines or another world, that we will not stand by or lie down while they continue to threaten us, that we will fight for our right to survive and we will not give in!"

Once the President finished speaking the various reporters and journalists erupted in overlapping questions holding up pens and microphones yelling questions at the world leaders, but their voices were translated into gibberish since they were all yelling at once.

Just outside the damaged airbase Jay along with Kira and Hideki were taking in the damage the base took from two enemy attacks.

"Hard to believe that there was only one casualty yesterday" Hideki said as the three of them turned away from the base.

Kira nodded "It's also the first casualty in this war. I wonder how the Prime Minister of Paix is doing. Fool 1 was his brother in law"

"Really?" Hideki asked "I wasn't aware of that".

Kira shook her head "You might want to pay attention to your allies Hideki".

"Why would I do that when all of my attention is distracted by you" Hideki replied.

Kira turned her head away to hide her blushing face. Seeing this filled Jay with mixed emotions that quickly began ripping at him "See ya later guys" he said as he began walking away.

"Where are you going?" Hideki asked.

Jay nodded towards the docks which were visible from the base "I'm going to check out the Foundation Week festival. I would have gone yesterday, but they had some trouble setting it up and of course there was the whole open war invitation so I'm gonna go check it out today".

"That's right it's Foundation Week" Hideki said with an energetic tone "I had completely forgotten, wonder what they've got set up this year".

Kira immediately ran to the other side of the road and turned around "Well let's go find out. Race you there". Quickly turning back around Kira broke into a full on sprint as she ran down the road with Jay right behind her.

Confused for a brief second Hideki stood there until the word race finally reached him "Hey no fair head start" he yelled as he ran after them.

With the three friends running down the hillside towards the docks and the festival they were laughing as they lined up with each, it had been months since they last had that kind of fun with each other although to them it seemed like it was so long ago.

Reaching the halfway point Jay sharply turned to the right and slid on the side of his shoes to slow his movement enough for him to safely change direction. After a brief slide Jay darted to the side and grabbed hold of the back railing of a passing city bus that had slowed down to make a turn downhill.

"Jay you dirty cheater" Hideki yelled as Jay cockily saluted both of them with his free hand.

Waiting at the bus stop for Kira and Hideki to arrive Jay was listening to his favorite song Blurry while he leaned against the city bus stop shelter.

When Kira and Hideki finally arrived Jay looked at an imaginary wristwatch and frowned "You're late".

"I'm...I'm gonna…I'm gonna kill you Jay" Hideki panted as he tried to catch his breath.

"You're just jealous because I thought of it first" Jay grinned before doing a 180 turn and walking across the street toward the festival.

"So what do you guys feel like doing?" Jay asked when his friends finally joined him.

"I was thinking about trying the Karaoke stage" Hideki said with an arrogant smile.

"I'll bring earplugs then" Jay quickly replied without missing a beat.

Giggling Kira held her hand in front of her mouth as she spoke "Come on Jay be nice. Hey better idea why don't the two of you go up there and try a song together".

"That's actually a good idea" Jay admitted "Let's go have a look at what they got on the list".

Agreeing Hideki left for the Karaoke stage with Jay to check out what songs were available leaving Kira lone at the festival entrance.

Walking around the docks for a while Kira checked out the various activities and events that were available this year, but didn't try any of them. There would be no fun to it if her friends weren't with her.

"Kira!" a female voice called through the crowd.

Looking to her left Kira saw her older sister running over to her with a man she didn't recognize.

"Hey Kai I didn't know you were gonna be here" Kira said before making a quick glance at the man with her "Who's this?"

"This is Alberto Borman; he'll be joining us on the Emerald's Edge when we leave at the end of the week" Looking over to Alberto, Kai blushed as she turned back to her younger sister.

"Really? Well it's nice to meet you Alberto" Kira said stretching out her hand.

"Likewise" Alberto replied shaking Kira's hand "Your sister is an interesting girl, only known her for a day and I'm already taken in by her beauty".

"Stop" Kai muttered in an embarrassed tone as she looked away from both of them.

Kira giggled at her sister's embarrassment before asking "So are you two enjoying the festival?"

Alberto nodded "I am, although Kai is trying to act like she's not enjoying herself".

"This is so childish" Kai said before Jay and Hideki ran over to them.

"Well we're ready to go whenever it starts" Hideki said before they noticed Kai.

"Hey Kai" Jay said "What brings you down here and more importantly who's your friend?"

Introducing Alberto to Jay and Hideki the Alberto shook their hands "So you're Jay Masterson. I never expected one of the four pilots from yesterday to be so young".

Jay nodded his head to the side as he shrugged his shoulders "I can understand, but let's not focus on that".

"So what song did you guys choose?" Kira asked turning to face her friends.

"Oh you'll see" Hideki replied "Jay actually picked it".

"I see" Kira said in a trailed off tone "Maybe I'll do one as well".

"Thinking about doing Karaoke?" Alberto asked.

"Thinking about it" Kira replied "But the Karaoke thing doesn't start until sunset so why don't we all have some fun until then".

"Sounds good to me" Alberto agreed "What should we do till then?"

"How about the boxing ring or the shooting gallery?" Hideki suggested.

"Boring how about we take over the boxing ring?" Jay grinned.

"What do you mean?" Hideki asked.

Jay began explaining the idea to them, Alberto and Hideki seemed to like it although Kira was against it while Kai pretended to not care.

"We won't get in trouble for this will we?" Alberto asked.

"No, I know the guy watching over the boxing ring I already told him about it" Jay explained "All we have to do is just mess around and spice up the fun".

"All right let's do it" Hideki cheered as the three of them walked over to the boxing ring followed by Kira and Kai.

On their way to the boxing ring the three boys played a quick game of rock paper scissors to decide who would go first and the order was set it would be Alberto, Hideki and then Jay.

Once at the boxing ring they watched as the next match began.

On the other side of the ring they could see Captain Kavai and 2nd Lieutenant Eric Flynn at the commentators table calling the action.

In the ring the two opponents were warming up before the bell rang.

Eric began announcing the match just as the first bell rang "And this is it ladies and gentlemen our final match of the night. In the red corner weighing in at 180 lbs from Harmon, Vrede. Arthias Flynn"

Captain Kavai took over "And in the blue corner hailing from the Republic of Paix, weighing in at 212 lbs William R. Buckland".

"This match will determine this year's Foundation Champion. Let the match begin!" Eric cried before ringing the bell on the table.

Both opponents immediately charged out of their respective corners and began circling each other, with the small crowd that was gathered around the ring cheering for them both to just go at it.

Arthias threw the first jab which was easily avoided by Buckland and countered with a left handed uppercut knocking Arthias off balance long enough for Buckland to gain the advantage.

Quickly unleashing a three part chain Buckland hit Arthias with a right hook, then a left jab and finished with a right handed uppercut leveling Arthias. Standing above Arthias with his arms raised as the ref counted the fall Buckland bathed in the cheers from the small crowd unaware of Alberto sliding into the ring behind him.

"What's this?" Eric cried eagerly from the announcer table "A member of the crowd has entered the ring oh watch out champ!"

It was too late once Buckland turned around Alberto had already rebounded from the ropes and did a corkscrew flying forearm smash knocking the Foundation champion off his feet.

"Oh and the champ is down!" Eric yelled as Alberto quickly took a victory stance in the center of the ring only to be interrupted by Hideki who decided to change the plan and take the glory for himself.

"Here comes another one!" Eric cried as Hideki entered the ring and quickly hit Alberto with a jumping cutter or RKO as some knew it before following up with an Attitude Adjustment.

Standing against the ropes yelling at the announce table Hideki demanded that they name him the Foundation champion as he waited for Jay to make his move.

Behind Hideki Jay crouched against his knees as he frantically stepped back and forth in a small line waiting for Hideki to turn around.

Once Hideki turned around Jay stepped over to him and placed his right arm across his neck before throwing Hideki's right arm over his shoulder and lifting him up delivering a Rock Bottom.

Unfortunately Hideki had other plans and countered Jay's maneuver by switching it into a mid air DDT counter.

After planting Jay Hideki quickly got back to his feet and began walking around the ring acting like he had won some huge tournament.

"Looks like we have a new champion this year Eric" Kavai called from the announcer table.

"I don't think so" Eric began "I'm going in".

Taking off his headset and throwing it to the table Eric quickly climbed into the ring and hit Hideki with a kick to the gut. Once Hideki was hunched over Eric forced Hideki's head between his legs and locked his hands around his waist before hoisting him up into the air and holding him in a sitting position on his shoulders.

With Hideki still dazed on his shoulder Eric took a single step forward lifted Hideki forward with a Last Ride powerbomb in mind, but Jay had intercepted him with a spear knocking him off his feet and as a result Hideki landed on his chest taking the wind out of him.

With Eric stunned Jay quickly rolled to the side once he hit the ground and jumped back to his feet just as Hideki shook the cobwebs from his head.

Once Hideki was back to his feet he charged after Jay who quickly ducked under his arm and hit him with some Sweet Chin Music not only stunning him, but making him stumble back and turn around towards Kira who had snuck into the ring while they weren't watching.

Once Hideki turned to face her Kira raised her arms above her head in a cross pattern before throwing them down in a chopping motion and kicking Hideki in the gut. Once again hunched over Hideki was stunned long enough for Kira to place his head between her legs and hook his arms.

Watching from the other side of the ring Jay kneeled back as he pointed his arms at Kira with his hands in a gun shape just as Kira jumped up and landed a Pedigree.

Once the Pedigree landed Jay jumped up and forcefully brought is arm down in an 'Oh yeah' pumping motion before walking over to Kira in the center of the ring.

Giving each other an X cross high five the two immediately entered a team stance to indicate their victory.

Jay in front kneeled to the side with his right leg straight out and his left while lifting his arms up as if he was lifting a weight.

Kira standing right behind him reared her torso back while pushing her lower mid section forward also raising her arms in a weight lifting motion.

"Looks like we have two champions this year" Kavai announced before getting up from the announce table and entering the ring with a small festival style trophy in her hand. Handing the trophy to both Kira and Jay she stepped back as a photo was taken, after the camera clicked Kavai congratulated both of them before asking them to tell her of such antics next time.

After Kavai left the ring Kira whispered to Jay "I thought you said you told her we were going to do this".

Jay grinned as he replied "And I thought you said you didn't want a part in this. So let's call it even".

Not continuing the topic Kira looked down at the unconscious opponents around them just as they began stirring. Alberto had rolled out of the ring and Kai was holding him in a sitting position against her body, Arthias was kneeling against the ropes while Buckland was also outside the ring lying on his back as he stared at the stars that began appearing in the sky.

Eric was already back on his feet and back at the announce table with Kavai clapping for Jay and Kira. And Hideki was still unconscious at the edge of the ring.

Walking over to him Jay grabbed hold of his left arm and leg and dragged him to the center of the ring before kicking his legs and arms to align straight with his body.

Standing just over Hideki's head Jay slowly took his shirt off and threw it over the ropes before waving his arms in front of him several times and then running to the ropes to his right. Rebounding off the ropes he jumped over Hideki and rebounded again from the other side before stopping right at Hideki's side.

Silently yelling dropped his elbow dead in Hideki's chest.

Once the elbow hit home Hideki immediately shot up and launched himself from a sitting position to a lop sided roll to the side before flailing around while clenching at his chest.

Not long after the match was over sunset came and everyone was resting and catching their breath while waiting for the Karaoke stage to open.

"Why did you hit me after the match was over?" Hideki asked Jay.

"You didn't follow the plan and tried to grab all the glory" Jay replied before throwing a dart at a balloon hitting it dead center. "I still got it" Jay smirked before throwing the last dart and hitting another balloon.

"Well there's the lights" Alberto said seeing the search lights from the Karaoke stage slowly waving through the sky.

"Let's go Jay" Hideki said walking towards the stage with Kira right next to him.

Arriving at the stage the group forced their way through the crowd to the front line as they watched the first singer.

Hideki and Jay weren't that far down on the list, but the anticipation for their upcoming turn made it seem like forever.

Listening to song after song, watching singer after singer it was finally their turn.

"Good luck you two" Kira said after giving them each a kiss of luck on their foreheads making both of them blush.

Once both Jay and Hideki were on center stage the music started and after a brief moment Jay began the song.

Oh written in the stars  
A million miles away  
A message to the main  
Ooooh  
Seasons come and go  
But I will never change  
And I'm on my waaaay

As Jay strung out the last lyrics Hideki lifted the microphone to his mouth and began his part.

_Let's go…  
Yeah  
You're listening now  
They say they ain't heard nothing like this in a while  
That's why they play my song on so many different dials  
Cause I got more hits than a disciplined child  
When they see me everybody brrrrrap's, brrrrrraps  
Man I'm like a young gun fully black Barrack  
I cried tear drops over the massive attack  
I only make hits like I work with a racket and bat  
Look at my jacket and hat  
So damn berserk  
So down to earth  
I'm bringing gravity back  
Adopted by the major I want my family back  
People work hard just to get all their salary taxed  
Look I'm just a writer from the ghetto like Malory Blackman  
Where the hells all the sanity at, damn  
I used to be the kid that no one cared about  
That's why you have to keep screaming till they hear you out_

Oh written in the stars  
A million miles away  
A message to the main  
Ooooh  
Seasons come and go  
But I will never change  
And I'm on my waaaay,

Oh oh oh ooooh. Oh oh oh ooooh. Oh oh oh ooooh.

_Yeah, I needed a change  
When we ate we never took because we needed a change  
I needed a break  
For a sec I even gave up believing and praying  
I even done the legal stuff and was leaded astray  
Now money is the root to the evilest ways  
But have you ever been so hungry that it keeps you awake  
Mate, now my hunger would leave them amazed  
Great, it feels like a long time coming, fam  
Since the day I thought of that cunning plan  
One day I had a dream I tried to chase it  
But I wasn't going nowhere, running man!  
I knew that maybe someday I would understand  
Trying to turn a tenner to a hundred grand  
Everyone's a kid that no-one cares about  
You just have to keep screaming until they hear you out_

Oh Written In The Stars  
A Million Miles Away  
A Message To The Main  
Ooooh  
Seasons Come And Go  
But I Will Never Change  
And I'm On My Waaaaay

Oh oh oh oooh. Oh oh oh oooh. Oh oh oh ooh.

Oh Written In The Stars  
A Million Miles Away  
A Message To The Main  
Ooooh  
Seasons Come And Go  
But I Will Never Change  
And I'm On My Waaaaaay.

With the song finished Hideki quickly dropped down from the stage with Jay right behind him. Once back on ground level Jay handed Kira the mic as she hugged both of them and went over to the steps. Telling the DJ what song to play she walked onto the stage and waited for the music to start.

Once the music began Kira slowly nodded her head as she stared at the floor of the stage.

With her head still lowered she raised the microphone and began singing.

_Tell me babe, how many do I shed my tears?_  
_Every Heart, Every Heart is not a gentle yet_

_Shall I do? I can never say my loneliness_  
_Every Heart doesn't know so what to say oh what to do_

_Was afraid of darkness cause I felt that I was left alone_  
_So I prayed for help to the distant million stars_

Finally lifting her head Kira's tone picked up as she continued with the lyrics

_Round and round the planets revolve round the sun_  
_And we always seek after love and peace forever more_  
_Growing, growing woe baby we can work it out_  
_Look up at the sky every heart is shining all today_

During the brief pause in the song Kira looked over to Jay and gave him a loving smile before continuing.

_Show me now, What kind of smile do I come across_  
_Every heart every heart can take a step towards the dreams _

_All of us what to take a lasting happiness_  
_Whenever you feel sad, I wanna hold you_  
_and give you a sound sleep_

_Someday every hearts gonna free and easy_  
_We have peace of mind_  
_Someday all the people find the way to love_

_Goes and goes the time goes on we are not alone_  
_We live on together and we will find some precious things_  
_Sometime we will smile sometime we will cry somehow_  
_Don't forget believing yourself. Tomorrow's never die_

_There is the warm heart places on my mind_  
_In my earliest day's there and it's so sweet_  
_There are many stars they have talk with me so kind_  
_They say yes always time's friend of mine so shine._

_Round and Round the planets revolve round the sun_  
_And we always week after love and peace forever more_  
_Growing, growing woe baby we can work it out_  
_Look at the sky every heart is shining all today_

_Goes and goes the time goes on we are not alone_  
_We live on together and we will find some precious things_  
_Sometime we well smile sometime we will cry somehow_  
_Don't forget believing yourself. Tomorrow's never die._

With her song over Kira gently set the mic down on the floor before jumping down from the stage and rejoining Jay and the others.

"That was amazing" Hideki cheered as the lights on the stage began dimming as they were turned off.

"You and Jay were pretty good to. Don't give me all the credit" Kira replied shyly as she wrapped her arm around Hideki.

"Well the night's not going to end for a while what should we do now?" Alberto asked while hugging Kai with one arm.

"Go home" Kai suggested still trying to hide the fact that she was having fun.

Jay yawned "That actually sounds like a good idea. I'm starting to get pretty tired. Why don't we pick up this excursion tomorrow".

Both Kira and Hideki agreed and left with Jay for the bus stop while Kai and Alberto went off toward the pier where there was no one else.

Getting on the bus just before the doors closed Kira, Hideki and Jay were surprised to see that they were the only ones on.

"This is a first" Hideki muttered "City buses are usually at the least half full".

"Are you really going to complain about being the only ones on the bus?" Jay asked tiredly as he sat in one of the center rows.

"No just saying it's surprising to see" Hideki defended as he sat on across from Jay with Kira next to him.

Leaning against the window Jay closed his eyes while the bus drove away on its route throughout the city.

Kira and Hideki kept quiet as Jay slept "You know while you were singing I couldn't keep my heart from racing" Hideki said.

"I don't think I'll ever be doing that again. I'm no performer plus I'm afraid of being on stage so I'm glad you and Jay saw it" Kira replied sleepily as she rested her head on Hideki's shoulder.

"All the same though it doesn't change anything" Hideki began "I hear singing every time I hear that beautiful voice of yours".

"Now you're just embarrassing yourself" Kira scoffed as the bus stopped at Midtown.

Hideki gave Kira a goodnight kiss on her cheek before he got up and walked off the bus.

"Thanks Hideki it was still sweet to hear" Kira said before he walked away.

"See you tomorrow" Hideki said in a tone that didn't suit him before he got off the bus and walked home from there.

Looking over to Jay a smirk crept across Kira's face as she got up and moved across the isle and sat next to him "You can stop pretending to be asleep now".

Jay pushed away from the window and looked up at Kira, but didn't say anything.

Kira could sense what was bothering him and she was kind of touched to see just how strong he really cared for her. "I know what's bothering you" she said quietly.

Jay silently leaned his head against her shoulder "I know. Its just different is all. Even though it's been the three of us for as long as I can remember it's mostly been just you and me. But even though I know I have no right to get between the two of you and I couldn't even if I wanted to. It's hard for me to just watch you and Hideki growing closer".

Kira smiled as she leaned her head against his "Don't worry, even if Hideki and I grow closer, nothing can come between you and me. Hideki told me that you and I are the most important people in his life and I can say the same about the two of you" looking down at Jay from the corner of her eyes Kira retained her smile as her tone changed into a more loving one "And I'll always love the both of you".

The bus made a stop just a bit from the airbase before turning around to return to the station.

Both Kira and Jay had gotten off and returned to the crew quarters in the airbase. Stopping just outside the crew quarters doorway Jay stopped and looked up to Kira and stared into her blue eyes.

What?" Kira asked as Jay stared at her "What is it?..." Kira gasped in surprise by what Jay did next. He hugged her. Not just a normal hug he threw himself at her and held onto her as if his very life depended on it.

"Regardless of what happens" he cried before looking up at her "Promise me that we'll always be there for each other".

Kira once again smiled at him as she knelt down to return the hug "Of course we will. Even years from now, even if me and Hideki end up married with a family of our own or if something else happens; regardless of the future Jay you and I will always be there for one another. Nothing can come between us".

Tightening his embrace Jay continued to hold onto Kira for a few more minutes before forcing himself to let go. "Thanks Kira. I really needed to hear that" he said before entering the crew quarters and walking over to his bed.

Turning down the hall and walking to the other crew quarters room Kira smiled sadly as she placed her hand over her chest _"I meant what I said Jay"_ she said in her head _"I don't care what happens in the future good or bad, nothing can come between us…Nothing"._

* * *

**A/N.** While I originally had a different idea for this chapter I changed it for a few reasons. 1. I felt that my original plan could be better used later on, 2. I wanted to have a more emotional chapter focused on the relationship between Jay, Kira and Hideki. And of course 3. I wanted to do something different while still maintaining my basic levels. And the result is my longest chapter yet.

As for the songs the are "Written In The Stars" By Tinie Tempah feat. Eric Turner. And (Every Heart) by BoA, who by the way is extremely talented for such a young age.

And now onto some real comments. Hideki and Kira are quickly becoming closer to each other and Jay seems to be troubled by it. Kai, Kira's older sister gets a brief guest role in this chapter and Alberto Borman makes his first appearance. But even at the end of such a fun day Jay still feels troubled and Kira to comforts him, will the relationship between them evolve as well?

And let's not forget that a new squadron has been named. One that the World leaders believe will lead them to victory in the war against the harvest The Holy Knights of Gelinkos.


	9. History Repeats

"Mayday! Mayday! This is the 2nd Recon team helo callsign Swamp. We've encountered heavy enemy AA resistance and we can't stay in the air much longer. All airborne units avoid grid area GT-89A".

Hundreds of voices were overlapping the radios, a massive firefight raged on the ground below while dogfights flashed by in the air. It was only day 6 of the war and already the entire world had become a massive battlefield.

The war was instigated from both sides; on one side there was Saris, a country that believed they had the right to the world. And on the other there was Vrede a country that wanted to establish a single government across the world of Gelinkos.

The Pokoju Federation was the first country to feel the fires of war; Saris had without warning initiated an airstrike on the outer cities before sending in ground forces. Systematically the cities and states of the country fell before the Saris onslaught, civilians and soldiers alike were killed in the first raids until the borders of the country were under Saris control.

With the borders and key supply routes as well as the outlying airspaces all in their grasp the Saris military continued forward capturing city after city within the Federation until they reached the capital city. Heroically the remaining soldiers and civilians of the Federation fought back the invading forces even through their dwindling resources determined that even if it came down to a single survivor, these invaders would not take their city.

Across the globe Saris had launched a simultaneous attack of the Republic of Paix, during a peaceful meeting between the leaders of Paix and Vrede at a town bordering the two countries. The leaders of both countries were trying to come to an agreement on Vrede's single government idea, an agreement that would allow them to stay true to their ideals even with Vrede's government established amongst them.

While the meeting was going on Saris had sent in an airborne and amphibious strike force on the seaboard of the Paix nation, easily crippling their coastal defenses. Word of the attack did not reach the leader of Paix until hours later just as his meeting with the Vrede president was ending.

Quick to accuse the Vrede president of using the meeting as a distraction he ordered his men to open fire against the president and his escort. The Vrede president managed to escape, but was wounded by a stray bullet. After returning to their respective capital's they each called an end to all ties between the two countries and were seconds from going for the other's throat.

It wasn't until a day later when Paix realized that it was Saris that attacked their country that the Paix Prime Minister finally realized that he shouldn't have jumped to such a conclusion and went to meet with the President of Vrede unarmed with only his secretary at his side.

Meeting with the president of Vrede the Prime Minister offered his apologies and pleaded with the President of Vrede to offer aid to his country which was quickly falling to the might of the Saris military. Still angered that the Prime Minister hastily ordered an execution order against him the Vrede president was able to put that aside to see the bigger picture.

"I will send a battalion of our military to aid your country Prime Minister, but in exchange I want the allegiance of your country as we fight against Saris. Once I enter my country into this fight Saris will declare war on us as well" the president said.

"You will have it mister president" the Prime Minister said thanking the president for his aid.

At that moment it was official, the world of Gelinkos was at war, Vrede and the Republic of Paix allied against the Saris nation. Sending in several strike teams into the Federation of Pokoju the allied nations of Paix and Vrede helped push back the advancing forces from the nation's capital city. Soon after the Pokoju Federation allied what was left of its military with Paix and Vrede and the leaders of the three nations began planning their counter attacks.

The war waged on for three years, Saris was the largest country in the world and as a result was able to divide its military between their fronts in Paix and Pokoju keeping their footholds in both countries. At an allied airbase in the desert of Paix several allied squadrons were taking off from the runway to provide air support for allied forces that were pinned down in a town in the next state.

"This is Captain Rainer Altman flight lead of Pyramid squadron, we're taking off. ETA to the combat zone thirty minutes".

The three fighter jets of the Pyramid squadron roared down the runway before taking off and ascending into the open sky heading straight toward the burning town at the far end of the desert.

"This is 2nd Lieutenant Masterson of Pyramid squadron requesting orders and exact battle area".

"2nd Lieutenant Masterson. This is AWACS callsign Solstice, you're squadron's battle zone is grid area GA-3T. Your mission objectives are to provide air support for the forward ground forces that are pinned down at the southern side of the Skyline Bridge. After the path has been cleared for the forward forces you are to divert your attention to assisting the 2nd recon team as they make their way into the heart of the town for an aerial insertion of a S.E.A.L. squadron".

"Roger AWACS understood, 2nd Lieutenant Masterson out".

Half an hour later Pyramid squadron had arrived within the combat zone and the three jets separated from one another to provide close air support for the forward forces on the bridge.

"Pyramid three here beginning attack run on the advancing enemy forces. Danger close, I repeat danger close. Ground forces take cover immediately".

Pyramid three roared through the sky before diving inside the suspension bridge and firing its missiles and machine gun at several key points of the enemy forces giving the ground forces that pinned down a brief moment of relief before they began their advance.

"Nice work Pyramid three" Captain Altman said before dropping a free fall bomb on an enemy tank column "Enemy armor destroyed".

"This is Pyramid two enemy forces at the opposite end of the bridge have been silenced. I repeat enemy forces at the end of the bridge have been dealt with. Ground forces can you handle the rest on your own?"

"Roger air support. Thanks for the assist we've got it from here over" the commander of the ground team said before ordering his squad to move forward.

"This is Pyramid one, the forward ground forces have been liberated and are beginning their push into the city. We're moving to rendezvous with the 2nd Recon team outside the city".

"Roger Pyramid one, patching you through to the leader of the 2nd Recon team now" AWACS said.

"Horus one your air support will be arriving at your side in a couple of minutes. Once your squadrons meet up continue to the insertion point and drop in the S.E.A.L squad. After the insertion is over we need you and your team to evac some forces pinned down on the roof of a school two clicks southwest of the insertion point".

"Horus one, roger AWACS leave it to us" the pilot of the gunship responded.

"Now that's a lovely voice" Lieutenant Masterson said after hearing the female voice of Horus one "Mind if I ask your name?"

"Focus of providing cover for us then we can have formal introductions" Horus one ordered as the three jets of Pyramid squadron joined up with the helicopters of the 2nd Recon Team.

"This is Captain Altman; we're approaching the insertion point now we can see light AA placements around the dropzone moving to engage".

In less than a couple of minutes Pyramid squadron had destroyed the AA fire surrounding the dropzone giving the Recon team free room to drop in the S.E.A.L. team.

"Insertion successful" Horus one announced "Moving to extract the forces at the school".

"Roger Horus one" AWACS confirmed "Be advised the extraction point is hot and moderate AA fire has been spotted along with light enemy armor. Let your fighter escort deal with those before you begin your approach. AWACS out".

"Roger AWACS. All right Pyramid squad you heard him go mop up that enemy armor and fast, our forces aren't going to survive much longer" Horus one ordered.

In a single pass Pyramid squadron had silenced and leveled the AA resistance and enemy armor around the extraction point giving the 2nd Recon team room to land.

"Go. GO! Get on the chopper!" the leader of the ground forces orders through the high volume of gun fire.

"Dammit!" Pyramid three yelled after an RPG hit the under side of his left wing.

"Pyramid three report!" Captain Altman demanded.

"Sorry captain I'm not going to be able to keep this bird in the air much longer I have to eject" Pyramid three said before the canopy of his fighter flew off and the pilot's seat shot from the jet.

"Hours one, think you can pick him up for us?" Captain Altman asked.

"I'm running low on fuel, but I can try let's just hope he doesn't land in front of the enemy" Horus one responded.

Once the ground forces were on board Hours one took off from the school's roof and proceeded outside the battle zone to rescue the downed pilot from Pyramid squadron.

"Warning! Warning!" the AWACS pilot cried "Long range radar has acquired several stealth fighters moving in at low altitude to your position. Pyramid squadron; protect the Recon team at all costs".

"Leave it to us" 2nd Lieutenant Masterson said as he set himself in formation along the left wing of his flight lead.

"Let's take them down in one pass Jack" Captain Altman said before spotting the enemy stealth fighters.

"Roger captain, just say the word".

"Fire once you get a lock".

"Locked on. Guns guns guns" Lieutenant Masterson announced while pressing down on the fire button for his fighter's machine guns "One fighter down".

"Captain Altman here the second fighter is down sky clear".

"Thanks Pyramid one and two" Hours one said as the helicopter hovered over the downed pilot who was waiting for rescue "Your pilot will be on board shortly".

"Thanks again Horus one" Captain Altman said "Once you've got him head outside the combat zone we'll cover you".

"Roger. He's on we're moving to exit the engagement zone now".

"Mayday! Mayday! This is the 2nd Recon team helo callsign Swamp. We've encountered heavy enemy AA resistance and we can't stay in the air much longer. All airborne units avoid grid area GT-89A".

"What!" AWACS cried "We just scanned that area everything was clear. Swamp respond. SWAMP!...Swamp is down. Horus one it's too dangerous to continue in your current path turn around and take a safer path to the west".

"That's going to be stretching it AWACS" Horus one replied "We're at bingo fuel and won't be airborne much longer".

"Understood Horus one, just get as far from the battle zone as you can and make an emergency landing as far out as you can we'll send in a rescue team for you" AWACS ordered.

Just as Horus one began its retreat the warning alarm inside Pyramid two's cockpit began blaring "You're kidding me. Really?" Lieutenant Masterson said in disbelief.

"What is it Jack?" Captain Altman asked.

"I'm out of fuel" Jack replied "I don't know how, it was topped off when we left base, but I'm not going to have enough to make it back. I'm going to eject here, I'll commandeer a civilian vehicle and make my way back to the airbase".

Just as Jack reached for his eject lever a missile hit the side of Horus one sending it into a tail spin. "Mayday mayday! This is Horus one, we're going down I repeat. We are going down over section GT-8…"

"Horus one just went down. AWACS advise" Captain Altman cried.

"Standby Pyramid one" AWACS said as it began its scan of the crash site "We count about five dozen enemy foot mobiles advancing on the crash site carrying RPGs and light machine guns. We can also see small arms fire coming from the heli's cockpit".

"If they're still alive we can't leave them send in a team to assist I'll try and hold off the ground forces" Captain Altman demanded before free firing a missile at the advancing ground forces.

"We have a Rangers team from the ground making their way to the crash site now, we also have another chopper in the area they'll be there in two minutes keep the enemy off of that chopper until they arrive".

"Ejecting" Jack cried as he pulled the eject handle from under his pilot's seat.

"Jack the area is too hot don't do it" Captain Altman cried as the fighter's canopy popped off.

Ejecting from his fighter Jack quickly drew his M9 handgun from its holster and waited until he was close enough to the ground before cutting himself free from his parachute. Once he hit the ground he tucked his arms and legs in and rolled to the side before taking cover behind a decimated building.

"Pilot!" a voice called from behind him.

Looking over his shoulder Jack saw the Ranger squad rush over to him, "Are you all right?" the Lieutenant of the Ranger squad asked him.

"I'm fine" Jack replied "We have to get to the crash site and hold off the enemy we can't sit here too long".

"Right. We'll lay down suppressing fire while you go and get the pilot don't doddle to long" the lieutenant said before ordering his team around the building and beginning suppressing fire.

Darting out from the corner of the building Jack sprinted toward an enemy soldier that had his back turned to him and with one swift arm movement pulled his combat knife from its holster and drove it into the base of the soldier's neck before pulling it out and making his way to the downed helicopter.

With the enemy trapped by the suppressing fire Jack used his knife to cut the pilot free from her straps and pulled her out of the cockpit before lifting her onto his shoulders "Just hang on" he yelled to her before running to the extraction point.

"This is Lieutenant Juan Boon of the 41st Rangers battalion. The OZ is marked with green smoke hurry up and land".

"Roger that Lieutenant" the pilot of the rescue chopper said "Confirmed I can see your smoke now coming in for a landing".

The helicopter landed and a small group of four soldiers jumped out of the back setting up a perimeter around the chopper protecting Jack as he boarded and strapped Horus one in. Once the two pilots were strapped in the Ranger team also boarded and the helicopter took off making its way back to the air base.

Forty minutes later the helicopter landed at the airbase and a medical team was already on scene to take both Jack and Horus one to the infirmary to check their condition.

In the infirmary Jack had a few scratches, but ultimately was fine. Horus one was alive, but had a fractured rib, bruises and cuts along her right arm and leg.

Entering the room where Horus one was Jack took a deep breath before stepping through the doorway and standing at ease "Captain" he nodded before seeing fully seeing the woman sitting on the bed in front of him.

Once his eyes set on the pilot known Horus one Jack's heart stopped entirely and everything around him disappeared, it was just him and her alone the outside world was no longer there. The single most beautiful woman he had ever seen was sitting in front of him. Her eyes were light blue, her hair was dark brown and her skin was lightly tanned. Jack's eyes quickly moved down the top of her head and followed her hair to its stopping point just past her shoulders before going over the curves of her body.

"Can I help you with something 2nd Lieutenant?" she asked him in the same lovely voice he heard a couple of hours ago.

Jack shook his head "I just wanted to make sure you were all right is all".

The pilot lowered her head slightly "Thanks for pulling me out of there".

"I couldn't leave you there, not after everything you've done" Jack said to her maintaining his calm, confident tone.

"No one else survived the crash did they?" she asked.

"No" Jack said in the same tone "I'm sorry".

There was a brief silence in the room as the female pilot allowed the news of her being the only survivor to sink in.

"You wanted to know my name" she began "Its Meimei. Meimei Sufir".

"Jack Masterson it's a pleasure Captain Sufir".

"Call me by name please" she said in an even more heavenly voice.

"Meimei" Jack nodded "Perhaps…Would you let me take you to dinner?"

Meimei had a small smile as she looked away from Jack "Sure, but after I'm released".

Jack nodded once again "Of course. I'll see you then Meimei. Take care of yourself" he said before stepping out of the room.

* * *

"There's too many of them!" Captain Rainer Altman yelled "We're going to be overwhelmed".

"Just stay focused on shooting down those bogey's Rainer" Jack ordered "We have to protect that mission station at all costs".

Outside of a Mission Station the Emerald's Edge had stopped to answer a distress beacon, but the station was empty and the search party sent inside was attacked by harvest drone that hid inside.

"Magician 9 provide support for Horus 1 as she moves to extract the search party" O'Brian commanded from the bridge.

"Roger" Magician 9 said before separating from his formation and moving around to the side hangar as Horus 1 emerged.

"Jay, Kira another group of enemy reinforcements are coming out of that debris field intercept them" O'Brian ordered.

"Roger" Kira confirmed "Holy Knights 2 and 4 moving to intercept bandits".

"Be careful you two" Jay's mother said from her ship as she approached the Mission Station.

"We'll be fine mom, just get the search party out of there" Jay said before shooting down two enemies.

"All right I'm docked, search party is boarding now" Meimei announced once she docked in the station's hangar.

"I'm kind of busy right now" Sean's voice said over the radios. It sounded distance as if he was speaking through a different radio.

"What was that?" O'Brian asked "Magician 9 respond what are you talking about?"

"This is Horus 1 search party is on board returning home" Meimei announced before taking off from the hangar.

"Roger understood" Sean said before flying away from the mission station at top speed and away from the battle.

"Magician 9 where are you going return to your assignment at once!" O'Brian commanded, but Sean ignored him. "Angel that is an order! Return to your support role at once! Sean!"

Magician 9's ID signature vanished from radar coverage as he exited the battle zone.

"This is Horus 1; the enemy is targeting us I need some support here".

"Hang on mom I'm on my way" Jay yelled after evading an enemy laser and flying toward his mother's ship.

"Negative. Jay stay in your sector and hold off the enemy reinforcements I'm sending Magician's 3 and 7 to cover Horus 1" O'Brian said from the bridge.

"They're too far away, they'll never make it in time" Jay argued "I won't standby and watch my mother die".

"Holy Knight 2 follow your orders" O'Brian commanded.

"Shove it" Jay yelled just before he shot down a cube-type that was pursuing his mother's ship.

"This is Skeleton 5 more enemy reinforcements coming in from the east; I count seven dozen cube-types and three carrier ships".

"There's too many all fighter's return to the ship we're pulling back" Jack ordered before dropping a bomb from his fighter and detonating it destroying all the enemies around him and Captain Altman.

"Magician squadron protect all returning craft" O'Brian ordered before looking over to the Bridge sergeant "Get the stealth field prepped and ready once everyone is back we're getting out of here".

"Roger sir" the Staff Sergeant cried as he began activating emergency protocol.

"They're running me down, someone cover me" Kira cried from the back of the combat zone.

Once her words reached him Jay looked over his shoulder, everything around him froze in time. He had a choice to make turn around and save Kira or keep going and support his mother's retreat. Divided between the two decisions his grip tightened on his flightstick as anger flared within him.

Hearing Kira requesting support once again Jay snapped his head to the side and turned his fighter around "Hang on" he yelled before flying toward her.

Switching to his long range weapons Jay waited until he gained a lock on four of the targets before firing. Once the four enemies were shot down Jay turned his fighter back around and watched through terrified eyes as a single eye shaped drone charged its laser and fired it at his mother's ship scoring a direct hit on the side of the ship tearing through to the other side.

The second the beam pierced through the ship it exploded in a fire that immediately died out sending debris in every direction.

The eye drone was shot down immediately afterward, but it was too late Horus 1 had been shot down.

In complete fear Jay's hand were quivering and his body shaking, his voice faltering in terror at what he just witnessed "No…" he muttered as his body continued shaking "Mom!" he cried, his voice echoing across the radios.

* * *

**A/N. **And chapter 9 everyone, finally.

I know it took a while, but I've been busy. As always I hope you enjoyed reading.**  
**


	10. Running Away

One month ago, Meimei Masterson was shot down in a battle against a harvest patrol fleet.

Her death impacted everyone on board the Emerald's Edge, she wasn't just another soldier or doctor to them, she had an aura about her a feel that made everyone feel better just by being in the same room as them. The warmest light that brought someone out of even the deepest since of depression or anger, but now…that light was gone.

The captain of the warship Jack Masterson was holding it together as best he could for the sake of keeping the crew's morale up as much as possible, but even that seemed like an impossible task at this point. And his son Jay was in the worst place out of everyone.

Jay hadn't left him quarters or even talked to anyone since what happened, his combat maneuvers were slipping more and more and in a moment of anger accused Kira of being the reason his mother was shot down, screaming at her that if she hadn't gotten sloppy and been overwhelmed he would've been able to save his mother's life, words of anger that hurt Kira very deeply.

Hideki was angered by Jay's words that day and was considering violently telling him that his mother's death was because they were at war. As much as he loved Jay and as much of a goof as Hideki was he had always been the first one to admit the real situation as he saw it and he wasn't going to stray away from that now.

Only through Kira's words did Hideki stand down and let Jay's words slid, even after what Jay said Kira could not and would not blame him for what he said regardless of how much it hurt her, she had no idea what kind of pain he was in, she knew he would need more time than everyone else and the support of the only person who knows him better than himself.

Mid-Afternoon one day Jay was still laying in his bed inside one of the crew quarters, like always he didn't leave the room unless there were too many people in there or there was an enemy attack. Either way he avoided everyone else and wouldn't speak to anyone.

Staring at the dark, steel ceiling of the empty room Jay silently relived the moment he saw his mother get shot down over and over. The only sound in the room was the whirring sound of the room's AC unit and the snoring of two sleeping crew members who had come off of a twelve hour shift.

Turning over onto his side Jay closed his eyes just as the door to the room slid open and a crew member said "Jay. Captain wants you at the Pit in an hour. He wants you to run the course".

Jay didn't move he just played the soldier's words over in his head while the soldier closed the door and left.

After the door closed the soldier walked down the hallway with O'Brian next to him. "Why does the Captain want him to run the course? He's a pilot not a soldier".

"Captain Masterson thinks that he might be able to relieve some of his son's depression through the course" O'Brian explained "He left the Staff Sergeant specific instructions that Jay isn't allowed to break or leave the Pit until he at least match the time of a Private in our Ranger battalion".

"Match the time of a Ranger?" the soldier asked "Sir there's no way he could do that without prior training. Ranger and S.E.A.L.S training are the toughest in our entire military, no our entire world" the soldier protested "Besides he's only 14".

O'Brian nodded "I thought so as well, but the Captain's orders are still orders" pausing as the two turned a corner O'Brian summoned the elevator that would take them to the primary training deck below the engineering deck "I respect the boy's skills as a pilot, but I'm not that fond of him, I would expect the son of Jack Masterson to be more mature and be able to follow orders better, but he hasn't shown much of that or much respect toward the chain of command".

"Permission to speak freely sir" the soldier requested.

"Go ahead Corporal" O'Brian granted.

"I don't think that's entirely fair sir" the Corporal admitted "Jay has a big name to live up to, but he isn't his father. You can push and train the boy as much as you want, but he'll never be his father. I'm not saying he's not capable of becoming a great pilot or soldier, but he'll never be his father and I think you're expecting him to grow a little too quickly. Sir".

O'Brian kept his eyes forward as the elevator doors opened and he stepped off along with the Corporal "Your concern is noted Corporal and even given my dislike for the boy this is his father's decision and as captain his words are basically law".

Arriving at the observation tower overlooking the Pit O'Brian explained to the Staff Sergeant that Jay was to go through infantry training first and wasn't allowed to proceed past that until he got a specific time.

Ordering the maintenance crew to set up the infantry course the Staff Sergeant began cleaning the weapons Jay would be using while the electronics and safety crew checked the camera's timers and terminals within the course.

Almost an hour later the course had been cleared clean and ready just as Jay stepped off the elevator and walked over to the Corporal who was standing at the entrance ramp leading down to the pit.

"Good to see you Masterson" he began "I'm sure you've seen other soldiers run the Pit before, now the Captain wants you to do it. Follow me please".

Leading Jay down the ramp the Corporal stopped at a trunk at the bottom of the ramp and opened it handing Jay a SACR-H assault rifle and an M9 pistol "We're going to start you off with the SCAR mainly because it has a low recoil factor, trust me if you ever get into a fire fight with an semi-automatic weapon, high recoil can get you killed. Also you need to keep the butt held tight to your shoulder for the best aim. Make sure you line up your sights before pulling that trigger otherwise you're going to spray bullets all over the place".

Holding his hand out to the table the Corporal told Jay to put on the tactical vest, helmet and rest of the armor typically worn by Army foot soldiers. While Jay was putting the vest on the Corporal explained how the course worked, once Jay had the vest and armor strapped on properly the corporal opened the gate for him "Give it hell kid".

Stepping through the gate Jay heard the Staff Sergeant from the over watch tower "First targets pop once you're in position!"

Slowly weighing the assault rifle in his hands Jay kept a neutral to undetermined expression on his face before holding the rifle properly in his hands and stepping forward. Once he stepped up to a low lying cinder barricade the first two targets popped up from the floor it took Jay twenty seconds to shoot them both.

From the over watch tower O'Brian and the Staff Sergeant watched Jay run the course, by the time he made the halfway mark his time was already at two minutes. Even a raw recruit could run the course in under a minute so far Jay's performance wasn't even embarrassing.

After he shot the last target Jay ran through the ending gate and heard the buzzer go off throughout the course before the Staff Sergeant yelled "What'da you call that? Reload and get back in there".

Looking up at the over watch tower with the same neutral to undetermined expression Jay restocked his ammunition in his pistol and rifle before heading back through the starting gate to run the course again.

Watching from the tower both O'Brian and the Staff Sergeant kept count of Jay's hit/miss ratio as well as his reaction time to the enemy and targets. His second run ended with a time twelve seconds longer than his first.

"Run it again!" the Staff Sergeant ordered angrily from the tower as Jay exited the end gate of the course.

Becoming angry Jay walked back through the starting gate and ran over to the first barricade before crouching down behind it and firing at both of the first two targets taking them both down with a precise shot to their chests.

Ducking out of his cover spot Jay ran over to the entrance of the small building before meeting another hostile target hiding behind a civilian target. Shooting through the civilian target to take down the hostile one a buzzer sounded throughout the course and the Staff Sergeant yelled "Civilian killed. Weapons safe and head to the end of the course now!"

Tightening his fist on the grip of the rifle Jay clenched his teeth as he proceeded through the course and left through the end gate. Just as he took the rifle's strap from around his neck the Staff Sergeant yelled "What are you doing? Get back in there and run it again. This time watch your fire!"

Jay's anger was already seething at this point he just wanted to shut the Sergeant up and return to his room, but the Ramp's gate was closed and locked so he wasn't going anywhere just yet.

Just as Jay set up for his fourth run Kira and Hideki had entered the training deck after hearing from Jay's father that he was going through the Pit and watched from the observation level as he started the course.

Quickly sprinting to and ducking behind the barricade Jay took down both of the first targets with a chest and shoulder shot before darting out from behind the barricade and sliding to the side as the hostile target popped up with a civilian shield. With a clear shot at the hostile Jay took it down with a clean headshot before pushing the civilian target out of his way and entering the building.

Sliding down to his knees to drop behind cover Jay heard a target pop up beside him and spun around before pulling the trigger taking down both a hostile and a civilian target.

"Run failed!" the Sergeant yelled "Proceed to the end and start over, watch your damn fire and use the sights, stop firing from the hip!"

Slamming his hands on the ground Jay got to his feet and in a brisk, hard walk left the end gate and went back around into the starting gate without even looking at the Corporal or at the spare ammunition lying on the table.

Watching from the Observation deck Kira and Hideki saw Jay take down the first set of targets before taking down the third using the civilian for cover. "Why is he doing this exactly?" Hideki asked after Jay shot a hostile target before leaning out of his cover to shoot another.

"His father said he's trying to take his mind off of his mother with this, but I don't think this is the right way to do it. They're pushing him too hard" Kira said in a broken voice as the Staff Sergeant yelled at Jay for killing another civilian target just as he was about to end the course.

Once again demanding that Jay run the course the Sergeant looked over to O'Brian who hadn't said anything the entire time, the Commander just watched Jay's progress not so much as making a sigh or aggravated grunt.

Now on his seventh run Jay's anger had gotten the better of him and he looked up at the speaker and yelled "What's the point of all of this huh? I'm a pilot not a damn foot soldier".

"You're not leaving until you make Ranger time on the course and I want a perfect run. I'll keep you here all day if I have to" the Sergeant yelled as he pressed the button to open the starting gate.

Starting his seventh run Jay ran through the course taking down each of the first targets with precise shots before clearing the first floor of the building with zero civilian casualties so far. Sprinting up the stairs an enemy target cut him off right at the top and Jay in a single swift movement stepped to the side before using his left hand to pull the combat knife from its holster and lunged forward, driving the downward held blade into the target and pulling it back out.

After taking down the target Jay crouched down at the edge of the roof and shot a single target using a civilian as cover before jumping down. Once again ducking behind a low lying wall Jay waited until he heard the next set of targets pop up for he stood up and fired at each of them, dropping each target with a shot to either the chest, shoulder or abdomen.

Running toward the end of the course Jay let go of his Rifle and quickly pulled the M9 pistol from its holster taking careful aim down the gun's sights as he briskly walked toward the end gate as the last two targets popped up. Making center headshots on both targets and exiting the end gate Jay heard to Corporal say "Niiiiiice run, you actually made Ranger time on that one".

"Final time thirty-six seconds" the Sergeant yelled from the tower "You've got two minutes to rest up after that you're moving on to a live fire course".

Viciously taking the rifle's strap from around his neck Jay threw the rifle down on the table and yelled angrily as he slammed his hands on the edge of the table.

From the Observation deck Kira and Hideki were both pleased to see Jay complete the course, but their good feelings about it were quickly taken away when they heard Jay was being forced to do more than just Infantry training, they were making him do a live fire course next? Just what are they thinking?

After the two minutes went by Jay was given a new assault rifle and pistol as well as a single flash, stun and smoke grenade. His new rifle and pistol were an M4A1 and a Desert Eagle. He was going to run the same course again only this time he was going to have other soldiers with simulated rounds firing back at him.

These simulated rounds packed a good punch to them to effectively simulate the impact of live fire, and the new vest that Jay was wearing had several shock patches under it. These patches would trip if they felt too much impact from enemy fire and if they did they would send a small, yet powerful surge through Jay's skin incapacitating him.

"Live course ready" the Sergeant yelled "Take out the enemy forces timer starts upon first contact".

Gripping the hold of the rifle Jay sprinted into the course and stood behind the barricade aiming at the entrance of the building waiting to see if anyone was going to come out.

After a few seconds of still silence Jay stepped out from his cover and quickly walked over to the next barricade before hearing one of the soldiers yell "Enemy spotted".

Hearing the soldiers overlapping voices barking at each other Jay heard a gunshot and ducked just as a bullet wisped past his head grazing the top of the cinder barricade he hid behind. Taking the smoke grenade from his belt Jay yanked the pin from the grenade's top and launched it over the barricade landing it just inside the doorway of the building.

"Grenade!" one of the soldiers yelled before a dense popping sound came from the grenade and smoke began pouring out of it.

Jumping out of his cover Jay sprinted over to the one soldier outside the building and slammed the butt of his rifle into his abdomen before kneeing him in the face and hitting him again with the butt of his rifle taking him down.

Taking a deep breath Jay entered the smoke filled building and took out of the soldiers standing inside the doorway before doing the same to the other two.

From the watch tower O'Brian grunted "He's just knocking them out. If he doesn't shoot them they're going to get him".

The Staff Sergeant nodded "He's afraid of hurting them, that's why he's not shooting them".

On the Observation deck Kira and Hideki watched Jay clear the course without taking a single shot and he only fired at the other soldiers to force them behind cover.

"Did he really do a live fire course without shooting anyone?" Hideki asked.

Kira nodded, but didn't say anything she could tell that the Sergeant in the watch tower wasn't going to let him leave until he did it the way it was supposed to be done.

Sure enough she was right the Staff Sergeant gave Jay some praise for doing what he did, but told him to run the course again and this time to do it right, which mean firing at the soldiers.

Watching Jay run the course again Kira told Hideki to stay there while she went up to the over watch tower to talk to the Staff Sergeant. "They're not going to let you up there Kira" Hideki called to her as she walked away.

Approaching the tower Kira was stopped by two soldiers who said the tower was off limits to uncleared personnel while the course was being run. "Then shoot me" Kira told them pushing her way past them and walking up the stairs to the watch room.

Opening the door Kira looked over to the Sergeant and asked why any of this was necessary, saying that this kind of treatment wasn't going to help Jay it was going to make him even more resentful and hostile to the rest of the ship.

"I'm under orders Airman" the Sergeant told her "The boy isn't allowed to leave until he completes both courses in Ranger time".

Turning his head O'Brian looked at Kira and told her to leave the tower, but Kira refused and demanded that they stop what they were doing at once.

"Airman First Class Esperer" O'Brian barked "As of this moment I am ordering you to leave this tower".

Kira clenched her fists and gritted her teeth before turning on her heels and leaving the watch tower hearing the sounds of gunfire from the Pit as Jay managed to breach and clear the building with his flash grenade.

Stopping at the platform halfway down the tower Kira watched Jay drop down from the roof of the building before taking a shot to his shoulder and another to his chest before falling back.

"Soldier K.I.A. Run failed" the Sergeant yelled through the speakers.

After a few seconds Jay got back to his feet and limped to the exit gate to reset his vest's shock patches and resupply his ammunition.

Waiting for him at the exit gate the Corporal offered Jay some advice, but he refused it saying that this was going to end his way.

Once his shock patches were rest Jay headed for the starting gate forgetting to resupply his ammunition before starting the course again.

Still standing on the platform that connected the two tower's staircases Kira watched Jay begin the course taking out each enemy soldier even better than he did before, suddenly it seemed as if he was a true soldier. He cleared the building and the roof without giving the other soldiers time to turn around. Everyone watching from outside the course couldn't believe what they were seeing, either Jay snapped or he was truly a natural soldier.

Dropping his smoke grenade off the edge of the roof Jay took cover behind the wall and waited for the grenade's smoke screen to pour out before dropping down himself and using the cover of the smoke to take out each of the three soldiers waiting for him.

After shooting the first enemy soldier Jay's rifle clicked signaling it was empty and he quickly released the rifle and pulled his Desert Eagle from its holster and scored a direct hit to the chest of the other two before sprinting through the smoke cover and tackling the last soldier to the ground before lifting him to his feet and using him as a human shield to exit the course.

Just before he left through the exit gate a hidden soldier left his cover spot and fired at Jay, but with the adrenaline roaring through him Jay fired two shots into the soldier's shoulder and chest taking him down.

After he dropped the last soldier the one he had restrained whipped around and wrapped his arm around Jay's and wrested the gun from his hand. After he dropped his gun Jay elbowed the soldier in his face before grabbing his arm and throwing him over his shoulder and grabbing him by the throat as he laid on the ground.

Pulling his knife from its holster Jay stabbed it into the ground merely half an inch from the soldier's head before leaving him on the ground and exiting the course.

Right as he came through the exit gate the Corporal said in a casual, but very impressed tone "Nice going. You made that course your bitch".

"Run complete" the Sergeant said through the speakers "Completion time 2 minutes 3 seconds, nice job Airman".

Leaning against the wall to catch his breath Jay set his rifle on the table as well as his Desert Eagle just as the Sergeant said he had one last course to complete. "Once you rest up head to Hole. You'll be joining a squad run through that course".

Leaving the Pit alongside the Corporal Jay was met by Kira and Hideki outside, but he didn't say anything to either of them, he didn't even look at them he just walked right past them heading to the squad course dubbed the Hole.

"_That look in his eyes"_ Kira thought as Jay walked past her and Hideki _"He looks like he wants to kill someone...Jay…please…just go back to your normal self"_.

Following Jay and the Corporal to the Hole, Hideki and Kira joined the Staff Sergeant at the watch post as the First Sergeant began explaining to the squad of seven in front of him what they would be doing.

"Your assignment in this course is to make your way through the distract and rescue a high valued individual being held captive by the enemy. You will have standard equipment at your disposal including the standard issue M9 berretta pistol and the SCAR-H with a red-dot sight and a grenade launcher attachment, as well as two stun and fragmentation grenades".

After he finished speaking the First Sergeant waved up at the Staff Sergeant signaling him to open the gates to the course so they could begin.

After the gates open the First Sergeant led his squad into the Hole and they entered a small one story building as the lights around the entire deck went out and a simulated moonlight was emitted around the course to signify a night time mission.

"All right squad listen up" the First Sergeant began in a low tone "Intel indicates that the HVI is being held hostage at the top of the water tower on the far side of district. Reports say we're facing around 40 foot mobiles and a single APC roaming the roads to the west. There are exactly three enemy soldiers at the top of the water tower guarding the HVI possibly snipers so stay behind cover as much as possible until we get closer".

Slowly pushing the door of the building open the First Sergeant peeked out of the doorway with his rifle pointed downrange and said "All right it's clear let's go".

Leading his squad through the door and out into the darkened streets the First Sergeant kept close to the ground before entering one of the side alleys and around to the far side of the district to avoid enemy soldiers as much as possible until they came to an intersection. "Corporal Strikes take point" the Sergeant ordered quietly.

"Sir" the Corporal next to Jay said before creeping up to the doorway and exiting into the streets.

Kneeling down at the other side of the street the Corporal waved for the rest of the squad to join him before he looked around the corner.

Once the squad made it to the other side of the street the Corporal told them that an enemy patrol was at the far side ahead of them before suggesting they try to sneak around.

"Good idea Corporal, follow me" the First Sergeant said before taking point again and leading his squad down the other side of the street and through another intersection.

Hearing a subtle roaring sound Jay looked over to the First Sergeant and said "Sergeant hold up".

"What is it Airman?" the Sergeant asked.

"Do you hear that? Sounds like an engine" Jay told him before the enemy APC drove over a small car at the corner of a side street and stopped before it open fired at the squad.

"Enemy APC everyone move!" the Sergeant yelled "Get to cover!"

The squad scattered in three different directions while the enemy vehicle fired at them hitting Corporal Strikes in the back.

"Man down!" one of the soldiers yelled after ducking into a building and dropping to the floor.

Ducking behind the corner of a large building with the Sergeant and a Private first Class, Jay waited until there was a break in the enemy vehicle's fire before looking around the corner and seeing the APC turn onto the street and head their way "Its coming get inside" Jay said before pulling the pin out of a grenade and tossing it around the corner landing it under the APC.

Just as the grenade went off the Sergeant kicked a nearby door open and order Jay and the Private to follow him and to stay away from the windows.

Once inside the Sergeant used his radio to contact the rest of the squad "Squad report".

"Corporal Wen here, I've got Privates Val and Jordon with me, but we're going to have to go around to avoid the enemy APC".

"Specialist Ryder here, I ducked into the bar across the street, but I have to wait until that armor moves away before I can leave. Continue with the mission and I'll rejoin you as soon as I can".

"Roger that make your way to the water tower we'll rendezvous two clicks to the south of it. Sergeant Williams out".

Looking over his shoulder the First Sergeant told Jay to take point and stay away from the windows and make sure the upper floors were clear before they moved on.

Readying his rifle Jay silently moved up the stairs with the rifle's sights aimed straight ahead of him, peeking into both of the first rooms Jay said in a low voice "Clear" before moving to the next set of rooms.

Scanning each room on both sides of the hall Jay reached the end and waited for the Sergeant and the PFC to join him before moving on.

"Good work Airman" the Sergeant said to Jay "Follow me, stay frosty".

Moving along the next hall the Sergeant led Jay and the Private through a large room telling them to be careful and check every corner. Jay took the center of the room while the Sergeant took the left side and the Private checked the right side.

"Center clear" Jay whispered loud enough for both of them to hear.

"Left side clear" Sergeant Williams whispered.

"Right side clear" Private Meryl whispered before a loud gunshot cracked through the air and the window next to PFC Meryl shattered.

Both Jay and Sergeant Williams hit the floor with the Sergeant calling Private Meryl's name, but he didn't respond.

"This is Sergeant Williams. Private Meryl is down, it's just me and Airman Masterson now, we've got an enemy sniper on us, but we can't get a fix on his location. Everyone stay behind solid cover and move quickly get to the water tower go go go".

"Masterson let's go" the Sergeant yelled before getting to his feet and bolting for the door at the end of the room.

Following suit Jay sprinted to the door and down the hall to the window leading to the fire escape before exiting the building along side his squad leader.

Now in an alley way the sergeant led Jay into the neighboring restaurant.

Once they entered the restaurant Corporal Wen radioed them informing them that they made contact with an enemy patrol and lost Private Jordon and that Specialist Ryder was taken down by a sniper before he could meet up with them.

"What now Sarge?" Jay asked.

"We need to keep going Airman stay close and don't stray away, we'll meet up with Corporal Wen and Private Val soon enough, for now we have to get to the water tower".

Leading Jay through the restaurant Sergeant Williams opened the door and took a side street around the next couple of buildings with Jay close behind him.

Watching from the Observation post along with the Staff Sergeant, both Kira and Hideki looked on through the course monitors at the progress of both of the teams as they made their way to the tower.

"This is pointless" Hideki sighed "Jay's a pilot not a ground soldier".

Kira didn't answer at first; she was too focused on the monitors showing Jay's progress alongside First Sergeant Williams. After they left the Restaurant and headed down one of the side streets she finally said "I just hope this is all. This is too much to force on someone".

"I know it's the reality of war that eventually you'll lose someone you care about, but why not just put him through some flight simulators instead of making him do all of this" Hideki said.

Sprinting across the street when they heard the sound of gunfire Jay and the Sergeant ran through the opposite alley and found the enemy patrol squad that had Corporal Wen and Private Val pinned down.

Taking one of his stun grenades Jay tossed it as close to the center of the group as he could and waited for them to scatter before it went off.

Once the grenade popped and the sound and light incapacitated the enemy squad Jay and the Sergeant took them down saving Corporal Wen and Private Val.

Running over to Jay and the Sergeant, corporal Wen thanked them for the help before asking what their course of action was from there.

"We're going to keep making our way to the water tower" the Sergeant began "Its just on the other side of that office building so Corporal you're going to take Private Val here and set up and good spot to cover me and Masterson as we make our way across the street and up the tower.

"Roger that sir" the Corporal said before taking Private Val with him down the street and into the office building while Jay and the Sergeant followed from the other side of the street.

Once Corporal Wen and Private Val set up a good cover point they radioed the Sergeant and gave them the go ahead as they began taking out small patrols around the tower with silenced weapons.

"Roger that Corporal" the Sergeant confirmed before looking over to Jay "Let's move Airman, stay close".

Following Sergeant Williams across the street Jay ducked behind a dumpster and waited for the go ahead from Corporal Wen before going around toward the water tower.

Coming to the end of the alley Sergeant Williams peeked around the corner before saying "Clear" and moving out into the open merely 20 yards from the water tower.

"Sarge wait a second" Jay said pulling the Sergeant back into the alley way.

"What is it Airman?" the Sergeant asked.

"There's no one patrolling the staircase leading up the tower" Jay pointed out "If we split up one on the staircase and the other going up the ladder we can take them by surprise on both sides".

"How do you figure Airman?" the Sergeant asked.

Explaining his plan Jay pointed at the ladder leading up the back of the tower "I'll climb up the ladder and wait for you to get into position outside the door. Once you're there I'll toss a stun grenade into the booth and while they're blinded you can breech the door while I climb over".

Sergeant Williams nodded "All right Airman we'll try it your way, just be careful".

Quickly sneaking around the corner Jay ran over to the ladder and started his ascent just as the Sergeant started climbing the stairs.

Once the Sergeant was in place he radioed telling him he was in place and they'd move in on his go.

"All right Sarge" Jay replied quietly as he reached down with his free hand and grabbed his stun grenade "Get ready".

Tossing the grenade up and over the ledge of the open window he heard an enemy soldier inside yell "Grenade" before it went off.

Once the Grenade popped Sergeant Williams kicked the door down just as Jay climbed over the window ledge with his pistol in hand taking out the two guards and the sniper at the other side.

"HQ this is 1st Sergeant Williams, HVI is secured we're ready for extraction".

"Roger that Sergeant" the Staff Sergeant said from the beginning of the course "Great job everyone mission complete. All KIA's wash up and get ready for Pit runs".

Switching the safety on for both of his firearms Jay untied the HVI and removed the bag over her head, to his surprise it was Captain Kavai his former instructor and combat trainer.

"_Why am I surprised?"_ Jay asked himself after helping her to her feet and leaving the water tower along with the Sergeant and the soldiers that acted as the enemy.

Walking back toward the beginning of the course Jay kept a few feet away from everyone else except for Captain Kavai who stayed at his side the entire way back. "How are you feeling Jay?" she asked him as they passed the street the APC was on.

Jay didn't answer; he just turned his head away from her and kept walking.

Captain Kavai lowered her own head before speaking "I know how you feel Jay, I lost my mother as well during a Saris air raid. I was stationed at the other side of the city when the bombers entered our airspace".

"You were on the other side of the city" Jay muttered "I could've saved mine if I didn't turn around".

"You had to make an impossible choice" Kavai told him "A choice that no one could've made easily. All you can do at this point Jay is remember all the good times you had with her and move on".

"You make it sound so easy" Jay mumbled.

"Trust me its not" Kavai admitted "But you can't stay in the state of mind you are now, otherwise that depression will consume you and it will kill you".

"So I'm just supposed to forget about it all together?" Jay asked her in a half angry tone.

Kavai shook her head "No. The only way you can get through a time like this is with the help of those closest to you".

Entering the lift that would take them back up to the deck Kavai looked down at Jay and whispered "There's always a way if you look for it".

Once the lift stopped at its gate opened Kavai placed her hand on his shoulder before walking away.

Leaving the deck alone Jay returned to his room an hour later to find Kira standing outside the door waiting for him.

Seeing her standing there Jay clenched his fists as hard as he could before running over to her and hugging her, something she wasn't expecting.

"I'm sorry Kira. I'm sorry" he cried into her shoulder as she returned his embrace.

Closing her eyes Kira held him close to her as he continued to cry into her shoulder, her dark green hair falling over her shoulder and over her hand that held his head against her.

"It'll be fine Jay" she whispered in a loving voice "I'm right here".

* * *

**A/N.** Unusual...I was actually getting emotional as I wrote this one.

As always. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you'll tune in for the next chapter "Enter the Wyvernns"


	11. Bound by Hate

I know I said this chapter would be "Enter the Wyvernns" But I had a change of ideas and decided to go in a different direction.

* * *

In an empty skyscraper at the edge of a deserted district park, two men were in an empty and seemingly ransacked office room, lying on the floor just at the edge of the broken windows. Each of them had a 50 caliber sniper rifle set up in front of them.

It was a cold winter day and the ground around the city was covered in snow. Everything around the battered and deserted city was blanketed in it.

They city was Nightingale, and it was the first city in Vrede to see the fires of war. Tanks, airstrikes and helicopter battles, everything that could've happened during a war except a nuclear strike did happen. The entire city was a complete ghost town; the only people there were the two soldiers in the skyscraper and a small group of arms dealers and a suspected terrorist sect.

"Easy now O'Brian" the sniper on the left said from the tower as they looked through their scopes "Don't get excited. If you're going to make a good sniper you have to learn to be patient and pick the right moment to fire at your target".

"I know that, but these ghillie suits aren't giving us much protection against the cold" O'Brian replied.

"Just stay focused" the first one told him "We can't leave until we determine whether or not these arms dealers are involved with the terrorist sect that's been targeting the royal family".

"Are you sure these laser mics we have attached to our rifles can pick them up from this distance Pete?" O'Brian asked his partner.

"Back in testing they were able to pick up sound from half a mile, but if the wind gets any rougher we'll be getting a lot of interference, but we can't let them get away this time" Pete replied.

O'Brian silently took in a deep breath before taking another look at the photo he had pinned to the side of the wall next to him.

The photo showed a middle aged man with a trimmed, bushy beard and a beret on his head. He wore dark sunglasses and a military issue tactical vest. He was Michel Spring. A former soldier in the Saris military, one day many years ago he just up and left the military and vanished. He resurfaced years later as the suspected leader of a terrorist organization targeting the royal family of Saris.

Michel supposedly supplied and instigated several attempts on the royal family while under the cover of a Vrede militant group. His most recent move was an attempt on the pregnant queen of Saris, an attack that took the lives of several royal guards and almost three hundred civilians.

"O'Brian!" Pete silently barked "Stop spacing out, we've got a convoy incoming from the east".

Quickly bringing himself to reality O'Brian looked through the scope of his sniper rifle and saw a small convoy of three armored cars driving toward the Arms Dealers from the east, right past the deserted apartment complex.

"This is it O'Brian" Pete said "Identify the target and use your laser mic to confirm he's here for an arms deal. Don't fire until I give the signal".

O'Brian kept his eye planted in the scope of his rifle as he answered "Roger".

Slowly scanning across the entire group from both parties, both O'Brian and Pete looked for their target, but to no luck.

"I don't see him" O'Brian muttered scanning the group again even the cars.

"Something's not right here" Pete said with a grim tone.

"You don't think they're on to us do you sir?" O'Brian asked him commander.

"The odds of them knowing we're here are extremely low, but it's possible" Pete replied before turning his rifle to the right "Wait we've got a helo coming in from the south".

Tilting his rifle up just a bit O'Brian spotted the helicopter Pete mentioned and zoomed in on the two people flying in it. "Target confirmed. That's Michel".

"Alright, we're a third of the way done" Pete said "All we have to do now is confirm he's purchasing weapons and make sure he's not really with the Vrede military. Kill him and then get to the L Zed".

Both snipers watched the helo land and Michel get out before approaching the arms dealers.

"Alright activate your laser mic" Pete ordered switching on the laser microphone mounted to the side of his rifle's scope.

O'Brian also activated his and they both switched on a small transmitter they had with them that would send the sound gathered by the laser mics back to their superiors in Saris.

"Dammit" Pete growled after hearing a burst of unbearable static from the transmitters "The helo's rotor blades are causing too much noise for us to pick up anything".

"Hang on I'm getting something" O'Brian said trying to listen to the transmitter.

"Hello…friend…I'm…ad …you…here..."

"I had to make sure there wasn't anything to chance" Michel's voice yelled over the helicopter's rotor blades "Do you have my order?"

The arms dealer nodded "Yes…Very…merchand…guarantee they will make your job much easier" the dealer said raising his voice over the whirring of the helicopter's blades.

"Good to know" Michel yelled "What's the price?"

"Usually I'd make you pay a hefty fee for this kind of hardware" the arms dealer began "But since this assassination of yours will spur on the war between Saris and Vrede I'm going to give it to you for half price. Once the bloodshed gets to the next level Saris will eventually seek me out for more firepower to use, I'll be the richest man on Gelinkos".

"Then we have a deal?" Michel asked.

The arms dealer nodded "We do. I just need your word that your fake cover as a Vrede militant group won't be traced back to me".

"There's our proof" O'Brian gasped keeping his eyes glued to his rifle scope.

"Sure is" Pete said gently touching his index finger to his right ear "Hornet did you get all that?"

"Roger that Stalker 1-1" a voice replied from their earpiece radios "Transmissions received and being processed. Eliminate Michel and his arms dealer, don't let either of them get away".

"Roger that Hornet, Stalker 1-1 out" Pete said taking his finger off his earpiece "I'll take the arms dealer O'Brian, you take Michel".

"Understood" O'Brian acknowledged moving his scope over to Michel.

"Dammit the winds starting to pick up" Pete said noticing the small flag they had planted on the outside of the window "We don't have much time we have to take our shots now".

Holding his breath O'Brian steeled himself and zoomed in as far as he could on Michel and gently wrapped his finger around the rifle's trigger.

"Do it" Pete ordered before firing his rifle the second after taking out the arms dealer.

Immediately following suit, O'Brian pulled back on the rifle's trigger firing a single round directly at the terrorist leader, but the bullet didn't hit Michel directly, it hit the arms dealer's briefcase and lost most of its momentum as it went through the briefcase and through Michel's stomach.

Once he was hit Michel fell back and everyone around the deal from both parties scrambled around with their weapons drawn looking for the source of the shots.

"Did you get him?" Pete asked "I can't confirm the kill there's too many of them in the way".

Seeing several of Michel's people lift him up and escort him to one of the cars both O'Brian and Pete took aim with their rifles again "We can't let him get away!" Pete yelled "Go loud take him out!"

Both of them fired another round from their rifles, but they didn't kill their target. Two of the guards fell to the ground, one dead the other screaming as he clutched at his knee with the lower part of his leg missing.

Before either of them could line up another shot Michel was already inside on of the armored cars and being driven away just as the helicopter he arrived on took off and flew toward the tower they were in.

"Dammit we have to go!" Pete yelled letting go of his rifle and jumping to his feet alongside O'Brian.

Both O'Brian and Pete sprinted down the stairs of the deserted office tower and got outside only to be immediately met by a group of men firing at them with assault rifles and sub machine guns.

"Get down!" Pete said pushing O'Brian to the ground before dropping himself. Once they were both on the ground Pete grabbed a flash grenade from his belt and tossed it over the wall before yelling "Move, get to the apartments!"

Once the flash grenade went off, both O'Brian and Pete jumped back to their feet and sprinted across the snowy park to the apartments on the far side.

"We need to get to the L Zed!" Pete yelled jumping over a small stone wall and sliding across the frozen pond.

Hornet contacted the two snipers "Stalker 1-1 be advised we are tracking your position via satellite. You've got about twenty plus foot mobiles are all sides".

"Thanks for the heads up mate" Pete panted as he continued to sprint across the snowy park with O'Brian just ahead of him "Just make sure our evac is ready, when we get there".

"Hornet copies all, Stalker 1-1" Hornet replied "We'll be sending in a gunship as an escort, just be sure you make it there alive".

Continuing across the park and across the snow covered street both sniper tackled the locked door to the apartment complex, immediately returning to their feet and drawing their handguns as they continued through, being wary of corners and rooms as they passed by.

O'Brian and Pete both had a USP45 handgun with a suppressor attached.

"Just keep moving through here" Pete ordered "We'll cut through these rooms and blast our way out through the back wall".

"Terry!" O'Brian heard someone call his name "Terry wake up!"

Feeling something viciously shaking him, O'Brian's eyes flew open and he looked around.

"You've been working too hard again, Terry" Caitlyn Bourne the flight lead for the Skeleton Fighter Squadron and heir to the Saris throne.

Rubbing his eyes gently, O'Brian muttered "Yes princess?"

Caitlyn immediately frowned "Stop calling me that. I told you to call me by name".

O'Brian continued to rub his eyes "Is there something you need Caitlyn?"

Caitlyn shook her head "Not really, you've been missing for two whole days. We're back home already".

"What!" O'Brian gasped.

Caitlyn giggled "You worked yourself too hard. Guess the fatigue finally got to you huh?"

"Two days" O'Brian repeated tiredly "What kind of commanding officer am I?"

"Well come on. We're going to miss the unveiling of the new fighter jets" Caitlyn told him grabbing his arm and pulling him from his bed.

Exciting the warship at the docks, Caitlyn greeted her driver and quickly pushed O'Brian into the back seat before getting in next to him.

"Where's Fredrick?" O'Brian asked the driver.

"Leave of absence sir" the driver replied "His mother died yesterday and he requested the day off".

Driving through the streets of the city, O'Brian stared out the window as he thought about the dream his had, about his first elimination mission.

Planting their claymores right in front of the back wall, both O'Brian and Pete backed away and ducked inside the small bathroom of the room before triggering their explosives and blowing a good sized hole in the bottom of the wall.

Hearing their pursuers yelling it was obvious they gave away their position and O'Brian immediately ran across the room and shut the door just as Pete pulled down the refrigerator in the kitchen and pushed it in front of the door.

"O'Brian let's go!" Pete yelled.

"Hold on sir" O'Brian called back as he pulled the pin on one of his frag grenades and tightly held the lever of it as he wrapped a wire around it before tying the other end to the door's key hole and setting the grenade inside the open drawer of a nearby table.

"Let's go O'Brian!" Pete ordered as he got down and crawled out of the hole they made in the wall.

Following after his captain, O'Brian crawled through the space and holstered his handgun before grabbing his sniper rifle and sprinted across the backyard of the apartments just as he heard his hand grenade go off in the room they left.

Climbing over the brick wall, both snipers ducked through an alley way and continued toward the edge of the city, where their extraction point was waiting.

An hour's worth of running and evading their enemy and finally they made it to the extraction point. "Stalker 1-1, this is Hornet. Evac is en route, but it'll be five minutes before they get to you. Dig in and defend yourselves until they arrive over".

"Copy that Hornet" Pete said spotting a hidden weapon cache under the ruined gazebo "O'Brian, check that weapon's cache. They must've left it here while they were heading to their trade off".

Prying open the two crates under the gazebo, O'Brian found several claymore mines, Bouncing Betties, assault rifles and light machine guns with plenty of ammo to go around.

"Sir, we can use these to lay traps for them in the grass!" O'Brian called to him.

"Good thinking, take the claymores and bouncers and start setting them up I'll cover you from behind the gazebo" Pete ordered setting himself behind an overturned tree that was split down the middle and perching his M21 suppressed sniper rifle.

Quickly scrambling around the grass O'Brian set all of the claymores and Bouncing Betties in the ground making sure they were concealed before he ran back to rejoin his captain.

"Alright ETA on Evac is four minutes, we just hold out for now" Pete told him after O'Brian joined him.

Another minute passed and the evac chopper had gotten closer, but even though there was only three minutes left time around them was standing still. With the knowledge that their pursuers could reach them at any moment, and that they could be killed within a second. Knowing that froze both of their nerves and their senses, who knew time, could move so slow.

"I've got contact they're coming out now" Pete said.

Readying both of their M21's the two snipers waited as the enemy got closer to their location. "Steady" Pete whispered "Wait for them to get closer".

Once the enemy got to the edge of the grass the first claymore went off killing three targets in its blast. Once the first claymore went off, both O'Brian and Pete began firing their silenced rifles taking down target after target with expert precision.

Evac was only a minute and a half out, but it seemed much longer than that. Even though they had more than 20 yards between them and the enemy and the grass was mined with explosives, they were still heavily outnumbered.

After firing his last round Pete ducked behind the tree to reload while O'Brian continued to cover him.

"Stalker 1-1 this is Hornet the gunship is entering your airspace now, fire mission danger close take cover".

"Roger Hornet tell that helo to drop everything it has right in front of us" Pete yelled after reloading his rifle and setting up again just as an enemy dropped behind a trashcan and held his rifle over the top firing blindly side to side, scoring a blind hit right into Pete's left shoulder.

Seeing his Captain fly back to the ground O'Brian grabbed a flash grenade and tossed it as far as he could toward the enemy group before tossing a second one and then ducking down to tend to his Pete's injury.

"Hold still" O'Brian told him trying to tear through the winter ghillie suit to get at Pete's wound.

"We don't have time for this O'Brian" he yelled "Just get down!"

Pulling O'Brian to the ground Pete covered his head and O'Brian's as the gunship flew over them and aimed its gatling guns right at the enemies around them before firing.

With the enemy cleared out, the evac chopper landed and O'Brian picked Pete up onto his shoulders carrying him to the evac chopper before they both left that dead city behind them.

"What the heck is this?" the driver said as black a car flew out and stopped right in front of him.

O'Brian snapped back to reality and watched as three people got out of the car just as another slid to a stop behind them and a third on the driver's side boxing them in.

Throwing his hand down to his leg O'Brian reached for his handgun only to realize that he didn't grab it when he left. "Dammit!" he growled before seeing the men advance on their car "Get us out of here dammit" he ordered the driver before several gunshots cracked into the windshield, thankfully it was bulletproof.

"Caitlyn get down!" O'Brian yelled as one of the men was about to open the door from Caitlyn's side.

Caitlyn crouched down and O'Brian reached over and punched the man in the face before grabbing his gun from him and shooting him. The first one was dead, but O'Brian wasn't quick enough to get the next. The second guy leaned over his dead friend and shot O'Brian in the chest before grabbing Caitlyn by her shirt collar and pulling her out of the car.

Caitlyn screamed and tried to fight back, but the man who took her restrained her just as another injected something into her neck immediately making her fall unconscious just as another member of the group shot O'Brian a second time and then fired two shots into the driver making sure they were both dead before they left.

In a hangar on the Knights Airfield, formerly known as Sky Winds Airfield, but renamed after the Holy Knights defended the city by themselves. Jack was leading Jay through the hangar and around four new fighter jets that were top of the line.

"Jay" he began showing his son the new fighters "These are the Wyvernns, top of the line in our technology".

Jay gazed at the four fighter jets in a completely mesmerized state. He had never seen such beautiful fighter jets.

The four fighter jets sat there in front of them almost as if they were waiting for Jay to choose which one he would pilot.

Walking in front of the four jets Jay stopped at the end and walked back, stopping in front of the second one.

"I'll take this one" he said to his father looking up to the silver fighter jet with light black stripes running lightly around them.

Jack nodded as he stood in front of the first one "Alright then, this one will be mine" he said looking up at the blood red colored jet.

"I'm going to go start on the flight simulators for these dad" Jay called back after running from the jets.

After Jay left the hangar he immediately ran inside the airbase and ran for the simulation room to find out for himself just how good these new fighter jets were supposed to be.

Noticing the commander of the base with a distraught look on his face, Jay stopped and asked him if anything was wrong.

"There's a lot wrong here kid" the commander told him "On one side we have a Tarak ship incoming; they claim to be on a peaceful mission to negotiate an end to the war between us. Add to it Princess Bourne was kidnapped on her way here".

"What!" Jay gasped "How? Isn't she supposed to be under guard while not on the ship?"

The commander nodded "She was with 1st Lieutenant O'Brian, but he was shot when they ambushed their vehicle. The driver was killed, but O'Brian will live. He's real tough to have survived two shots to the chest".

Jay clenched his fists "What do we know?"

The commander shook his head "All we know is she's gone, we don't know who took her or why".

"Where's O'Brian?"

"In the infirmary getting patched up, he'll probably be discharged from the Royal Service for this" the commander told him.

"That's bullshit!" Jay barked "They can't discharge him for this! What was he supposed to do? Take them all on with his hands!"

"Their soldier their rules Masterson" the commander replied "And may I remind you that you are addressing a superior officer here".

Jay immediately turned around and ran for the infirmary in the lower levels of the airbase determined to find O'Brian.

Entering the ICU of the infirmary, two Royal Guards blocked Jay's path at the doors "Sorry, but we can't allow anyone inside" one of them said.

"Out of my way" Jay demanded, but neither guard moved.

"We're under orders not to allow anyone past these doors, now turn around or we'll treat you as a hostile and detain you" the first guard told him.

Jay looked at both of them and stepped forward again forcing the guards to act.

The first guard reached out to him, but thanks to his training with Captain Kavai, Jay easily grabbed his arm and swung him around giving him room to chop the second guard right in his throat before wrenching the first guard's arm behind his back before bringing his free arm around and chopping him in the throat knocking him out.

With both guards out cold Jay stormed into O'Brian's room and demanded that he get up.

"What do you want Masterson?" he asked in a pained tone.

"I said get up!" Jay demanded.

"That's no way to speak to your"

"Shut it!" Jay barked cutting him off. "Now on your feet. You don't have time to lie around while Caitlyn is out there with whoever did this to you. You once told me that my only job as a member of the Skeleton squadron was to protect her. I only protected her because she was my friend and flight lead".

O'Brian moved his eyes over to Jay before painfully pushing himself up.

"Now on your feet dammit" Jay ordered "We're going to rescue Caitlyn".

O'Brian slid himself out of bed and forced himself to stand straight "If you think you can follow my orders then let's go".

Jay smirked at him "Just don't slow me down" he said walking out of the infirmary with O'Brian behind him.

It took a few hours, but both Jay and O'Brian were on the airbase runway sneaking into Jay's old fighter.

"Control tower this is Jay Masterson, requesting clearance to take off".

"Roger that Masterson, you are cleared to take off on runway 1".

Taxiing onto the runway, Jay looked to the seat behind him and asked O'Brian if he was sure he knew where to find Caitlyn.

O'Brian nodded "Yeah. I know exactly where she'll be. I also know who took her".

After Jay took off, O'Brian began explaining what had happened that day.

O'Brian recalled the image of those days in his mind as he spoke "It all started back during the war between the nations. The Saris Royal Family was under attack by a terrorist group operating under cover as a Vrede militant group. Our Intel believed that the leader of this group was a former soldier in our military by the name of Michel Spring. One day he just disappeared and resurfaced years later, he claimed that the Royal Family of Saris needed to be dealt with, that they were unfair to their people and abusing their powers over the country".

"After several attempts on the Royal Family we finally tracked down an arms deal that Michel would be involved in and the higher ups sent me and Captain Pete Holland in to investigate as a two man team. Captain Holland and I were to take up sniper roles and confirm if Michel was indeed the mastermind of the terrorist acts and if his affiliation with the Vrede military was just a cover and then eliminate him".

"We spotted Michel from a tower in the deserted city Nightingale, after confirming everything we needed to know, we took our shots. Captain Pete took out the arms dealer and I took Michel, but by shear luck he survived. No one else would dare to pull off something like this. It has to be him".

Jay narrowed his eyes "I see. Well this will be your chance to finish the job then, we'll be at Nightingale within the hour".

Just like Jay said an hour later they both touched down in Nightingale. Still a deserted ghost town, after the war ended the Vrede government decided to leave Nightingale as it was as a reminded of the horrors of war, so everything was the same as O'Brian remembered it, with the exception of the snow.

"I don't feel right being here" O'Brian muttered after climbing out of the fighter jet that had landed on the outskirts of the town.

"Suck it and your pain up O'Brian" Jay told him "Remember if you can't pull this off".

"I know" O'Brian growled "Let's just get to it. We need to get going. Whatever Michel is planning it won't be long until he proceeds with it".

Jay's radio began beeping.

"Did you tell anyone where we were going?" O'Brian asked.

Jay nodded "Yeah, I told my dad, Rainer and Kira".

Jay answered the radio and an unknown voice came through "I'm glad to see that you survived your injuries O'Brian".

"Michel!" O'Brian gasped.

"Come to finish what you started did you? It'll give me the same opportunity then. If you think you can make it to me in one piece then by all means come after me. The girl dies by midnight if my ransom isn't received".

The radio cut out. "That bastard" O'Brian growled.

Jay didn't say anything he just dropped the radio and gripped his M4A1 Assault Rifle equipped with a heartbeat sensor, a silencer and a red dot sight.

"Follow me" O'Brian ordered leading Jay through the dead city and toward the tower where he and his former captain missed their shot at killing Michel.

The whole time they where walking through the city Jay had remained silent, he was dead set on saving Caitlyn regardless of it O'Brian survived or not. Sensing Jay's anger O'Brian led him through a sewer tunnel below the streets "He won't kill her" he said to the young pilot. "He needs her alive, she's his only bargaining chip. If he kills her he'll have the world's military after him and he knows it".

"Why hasn't anyone gone after him after you failed to kill him?" Jay asked.

"He vanished again after that day" O'Brian answered "Not a single attack or threat against the royal family since that day".

Jay once again fell silent before they found a ladder that was labeled Nightingale Central Park.

Taking a moment to steel himself O'Brian looked over to Jay, "I know we've had our differences Jay" he began "But I want to thank you for dragging me into this. The chance to correct my failures".

"That's fine O'Brian, but remember" Jay said "I'm doing this for Caitlyn not you".

O'Brian nodded "Right. She's in love with you, you know" he said catching Jay by surprise.

O'Brian gave a small smile and nodded "She told me herself. She came to me one day and told me to stop being so hard on you".

"_I mean it Terry, stop being so forceful on Jay" Caitlyn demanded to the sub-commander of the warship._

_O'Brian was about to say something, but Caitlyn cut him off "I…I really like him and I think that if we can love with each other that might be an end to the suspicions between our nations"_.

Jay's face turned red after O'Brian finished recalling that moment. "She says it's for the sake of her country and the good of her people as well as the people of Vrede, but she's a bad liar. She really likes you, and I don't know how you feel about her, but you'd better not turn your back on her".

Jay nodded "That's a situation for another time right now we need to get going".

O'Brian returned the nod "Alright here's our plan then. We'll storm into office guns blazing. We can't give Michel any time once we're in. He's a coward he'll prepare an evac once he knows we're inside".

"Then let's stop wasting time" Jay told him climbing up the ladder with O'Brian behind him.

Returning to the streets Jay knelt down and aimed his rifle at the office tower making sure no one spotted them as O'Brian climbed out and they both proceeded into the tower.

Shooting the glass doors open the two soldiers stormed into the lobby killing every guard in their way. The amount of weapons and ammunition they were carrying slowed them down greatly, but at the rate they were using it all, it didn't seem to matter much.

Eliminating all targets in the lobby the two soldiers proceeded up the stairs to continue they're fight against Michel's group. Neither of them took a single hit or so much as a graze from enemy fire, it was no surprise for O'Brian even though he was injured he had been through much worse in his military career, but for Jay. Someone his age and with nothing more than live fire training he seemed to move like a veteran.

Knowing he had no time to watch Jay's movements or ask how he was doing that so naturally O'Brian kept his focus on the enemy that just seemed to literally be coming out of the walls.

Finally exhausting their ammunition, they had no choice, but to pick up weapons dropped by their enemies as they continued through the office tower and toward the top the very room where O'Brian and his former captain took their shots at Michel.

Entering an elevator, both Jay and O'Brian checked their remaining ammo and grenades quickly thinking of a plan for when the doors opened.

"We'll climb out from the top latch and toss some flash grenades through the door way to blind them. From there we'll drop down and take care of them" O'Brian told him to which Jay agreed.

Jay's radio beeped again and he answered.

"Jay" his father's voice came "We're going to be in Nightingale in ten minutes, you can expect a serious punishment for this so you'd better survive".

"Don't worry dad. We'll make it out of here alive".

Jay turned off his radio and climbed up through the elevator's hatch before pulling O'Brian out and waiting for the doors to open.

Once the doors slid open a barrage of gunfire echoed below them as the soldiers outside the shaft sprayed the elevator with bullets.

Once the barrage of gunfire stopped, both Jay and O'Brian popped the top on their flash grenades and reached their arms down the hatch before tossing them through the door way and immediately jumping down one at a time after they went off.

Quickly and with experienced precision taking down all of the enemies blocking their way, both O'Brian and Jay raced through the cafeteria room toward the stairs leading to the top floor.

"Commander O'Brian this is Spectre do you read?" a voice came from the radios.

"Roger that" O'Brian replied quickly placing the earpiece to his ear.

"Our thermal imaging as spotted a helicopter on the roof of the building across from you. We've also spotted two foot mobiles inside heading for that chopper".

"That's got to be Michel and the princess" O'Brian told him "We've got to find a way to the other building".

Several gunshots echoed through the cafeteria as Jay shot out the windows and hooked a rappelling cable to the edge of bar table yelling at O'Brian to hurry up before he rappelled down the side of the office building stopping two floors above the street and unhooking himself before dropping into the bushes.

Not waiting for O'Brian to catch up to him Jay bolted into the adjacent building and crashed through the glass door way of what used to be a really nice hotel and diner before mowing his way through several enemies and making his way to the roof.

Reaching a staircase Jay immediately sprinted up toward the sixth floor and kicked open the door and began firing at the line of soldiers in front of him before taking a round to his shoulder, but thankfully his armor stopped the bullet before it went too far.

Fighting his way through the diner level, Jay caught sight of someone holding Caitlyn hostage and holding a gun to her head.

"You must be Michel" Jay said to him aiming his MK14 assault rifle he took from a fallen enemy right at Michel's head.

The man nodded "Indeed. And you're the famous young pilot Jay Masterson I presume? One of the Holy Knights came after me himself, this must be a joyful day indeed, I get to kill you, O'Brian and the princess of Saris all in one day".

Having a stare down with the leader of the terrorist group, Jay kept a firm grip on the trigger of his rifle and a trained eye on Michel's head waiting for him to make just a split second of a wrong move.

Finally catching up to them O'Brian stormed into the diner, but tripped over one of the dead terrorists. "Terry!" Caitlyn cried seeing O'Brian fall over the body giving Michel just the distraction he wanted.

Throwing Caitlyn to the ground Michel aimed his Desert Eagle handgun at Jay and fired a single round.

Somehow Jay managed to avoid the bullet that would've hit him between his eyes. He didn't know how, but he could sense that Michel was about to shoot him and just reacted. Regardless he didn't have time to react to it, Caitlyn had jumped to her feet and grabbed Michel's gun hand trying to wrestle it out of his grip, but he easily overpowered her and slapped her to the floor before aiming his gun at her.

"Little bitch" he growled before O'Brian shot him in the abdomen and Jay did the same.

Michel fell to his knees, but before Jay or O'Brian could get up a helicopter flew above them and fired a missile through the glass walls destroying a support beam that caused half of the roof to cave in around them.

The roof began falling and Jay forced himself to his feet as he ran over to Caitlyn who got her leg trapped under a piece of the roof.

"O'Brian!" Jay yelled turning around to see if O'Brian was still ok, but he wasn't moving.

"Jay!" Caitlyn cried forcing Jay to turn around just as Michel aimed his Desert Eagle at them.

This time Jay froze, his instincts were gone, his entire life flashed before his eyes before Caitlyn tackled him down and the bullet from Michel's gun hit her in the back.

Caitlyn fell over in Jay's arms as Michel turned to run for the roof. "Caitlyn!" Jay yelled after she fell into his arms completely motionless "Caitlyn!" he yelled again.

Caitlyn slowly opened her mouth "Don't…let him get away" she muttered before her breath stopped entirely.

Quickly, but gently placing Caitlyn on her back Jay got up and sprinted after Michel with the strength of a raging fire burning through his entire being.

Jumping over a collapsed wall and sprinting up the staircase to the helipad on the roof, Jay spotted Michel closing the side door to the helicopter waiting for him.

Knowing this was his only chance, Jay legged it full speed toward the chopper as it took off and once he was at the edge of the helipad and jumped off grabbing the leg rail of the chopper quickly looking down to the destroyed city seven stories below him before pulling himself up as the pilot of the chopper tried to kick him off.

Letting go of the rail with his right hand, Jay grabbed the pilot's leg and used it to pull himself up before using his right hand to grabbed the inside of the door and his left hand to yank the pilot out of his seat and out of the helicopter before climbing in himself.

Now in the pilot's seat Jay reached for the co-pilot just as he pulled his handgun and pointed it at Jay.

Slapping the pilot's hand down just as he fired, the bullet went through the chopper's windshield giving Jay time to grab the pilot by the neck and slam his head down onto the controls before pushing him toward the open door.

The pilot caught himself and began pulling himself back in, but Jay pulled his M9 handgun out and shot him in the chest killing him as he slid out of the doorway.

Grabbing the flightstick of the helicopter, Jay tried to land it again, but the missile warning of the chopper went off as a passing fighter jet launched a missile at the chopper.

Throwing the flightstick down Jay tried to avoid the missile, but the rear of the heli was hit forcing the bird down and landing it on the roof of the hotel in a fireball of metal.

The explosion threw Jay several yards from the crashed chopper as well as Michel who was already on his feet and stumbling toward Jay.

Spotting Michel's Desert Eagle lying in the center of the helipad Jay began crawling toward it while Michel continued to stumble his way.

Never in his life did Jay see something so within his reach, but so far away. He was only a few inches from the gun, all he had to do was grab it and shoot Michel.

Making one last pull forward Jay set his hand on the gun, but Michel had kicked him in the side of the head before reaching down and retrieving his gun.

Aiming it at Jay's head he smiled with a pained, evil grin "See you in Hell boy" he said before a gunshot echoed across the roof and Michel stumbled to the side.

Looking in the direction of the gunshot Jay saw O'Brian limping toward them with blood streaming down his face firing blindly toward Michel missing each shot until Michel leveled himself and shot him in the chest.

Seeing O'Brian fall back and drop his gun, Jay's vision went completely red. All he saw was a red light illuminating everything around him, all he could feel was the need to destroy the man standing before him.

Immediately pushing himself to his feet Jay roared as he charged at Michel quickly knocking the gun out of his hand and tackling him to the ground before rearing back his right hand and slamming it down across Michel's face and doing the same with his left before grabbing Michel's throat and lifting his head up before slamming his own head against his.

Punching him with his right hand once more with all his strength Jay got to his feet and dragged Michel up with him before punching him in the stomach and grabbing both sides of his head and bending him over, kneeing him in the face and then head butting him again.

Dropping Michel back to the ground Jay wrapped both of his hands around his neck and began chocking him with all of his strength.

Michel's vision quickly began fading as his breath stopped, and his brain began to hemorrhage. All he managed to do was get a quick look in Jay's eyes before he punched him across the face, and what he saw immediately froze him on the inside. Even while the young pilot continued to beat him into the ground all he could see was blood flying from his mouth and the frozen image of Jay's expression stuck in his mind. Those eyes. The look of a real monster, one far worse than he ever was.

After punching Michel in the face one last time Jay dragged Michel back to his feet and continued to punch and knee him in the stomach and head until Michel was backed to the edge of the roof.

In a beaten, bloody heap of a man Michel stood at the edge of the roof shaking like a zombie trapped in a swamp as Jay took one last step over to him and drove his combat knife deep into his chest before he grabbed him by the throat before choking him some more as he looked into his eyes. "Burn in Hell you son of a bitch"

With one last roar of rage Jay lifted Michel over the edge of the roof and threw him forward before letting go, sending him flying down to the ground far below them.

Once Michel's body vanished in the darkness of the night Jay stumbled back as his vision blurred away before falling onto his back with his legs and arms straight out in each direction.

Slowly turning his head to the side Jay looked over at O'Brian's body just as a large group of soldiers stormed out onto the helipad, their yells barely reaching him as the group split between him and O'Brian.

Seeing one soldier kneel next to him as his vision continued fading Jay could only hear a dull screeching sound as the soldier yelled for him to respond to his hand movements before motioning for a helicopter above him to lower a pallet so they could medevac him.

Opening his eyes Jay was blinded by a bright light that surrounded him.

Grunting loudly in pain Jay tried to move, but a hand on each of his shoulders gently pushed him down telling him to rest.

Focusing his eyes Jay saw that it was Kira and Hideki.

"What happened?" he asked them through a pained broken voice.

They were both silent for a second as they exchanged looks at each other "You mean you don't remember?" Hideki asked him.

"Re…Remember what?" Jay asked.

"Dude!" Hideki gasped in disbelief "How could you not remember" Kira cut him off "Caitlyn is safe, you and O'Brian saved her".

Jay's head rested against eh pillow below him "Are they ok?"

Kira nodded "They'll be fine; they're both going to be in the hospital for a while as are you, but you'll all survive".

Jay sighed with another groan of pain "Good".

Kira knelt over and kissed him on the forehead as his eyes closed before leaving with Hideki.

"He really doesn't remember anything?" Hideki asked as they walked through the hall "He doesn't remember any of what he did to that guy?"

Kira and Hideki both saw the camera footage of what Jay did to Michel. The film was shot by a helicopter's battle camera after the pilot spotted two figures moving around the crashed heli.

The entire time she was watching it Kira could feel the world around her disappearing, slowly she was being consumed by darkness. The resolution of the camera allowed her to look right at Jay's face as he pummeled away at Michel, strangling him against the ground before lifting him up and beating him to the edge before throwing him off.

She had seen that look in his eyes before, but this time was different. The look in Jay's eyes the shear desire to destroy the man in front of him. Even thinking about that evil look made her throat close and her heart stop.

She began feeling dizzy and missed a step falling to the side into Hideki's arms.

"Kira!" he gasped before she straightened herself "Don't go passing out on me. I can't handle both of you freaking out on me".

"Sorry" Kira said feeling tears forming in her eyes "I…I just can't believe Jay actually did something like that to another person".

Hideki agreed "Yeah, I mean I read the guy's file, he deserved to die, there's no doubt about that, but what Jay did to him". Hideki's voice trailed, even he could feel chills forming inside him after remembering the video footage of Jay beating Michel before killing him.

"Hideki" Kira snapped getting to her feet and looking straight into his eyes "We can't tell him about this. We can't let anyone tell him what he did" she said through crying eyes.

Hideki looked down at her "Kira, how can we stop him from finding out about that? Everyone on the base and on the Emerald's Edge knows what he did by now".

Kira continued to cry "We have to find a way! We can't let him find out. It'll change him forever".

Hideki lowered his eyes feeling small tears in his own eyes "Alright. I'll go talk to his dad, if anyone can make sure no one says anything it'll be him. You go and stay with Jay until I'm done".

Hideki leaned forward and hugged Kira before running off to find Jay's father leaving Kira alone in the hall.

Once Hideki was gone Kira's tears came full force now the sight of Jay's look still trapped in her mind. She swore to herself that she'd never allow him to end up like that again. She swore that she'd always protect him against everything, even the darkness within himself.

_"If something happens to me I want you to protect him, hold on to him and never let go. He needs someone like you to fall back on, promise me you'll be there for him"._

"_Please Meia, promise me that"._

* * *

__**A/N.** There's chapter 11. If anyone thinks this all seems really familiar it's because it was all inspired by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1 and 3. Both great games that I've greatly enjoyed playing and will always hold onto.

As much as I dislike 'borrowing' other ideas and plots I couldn't resist this time, the plot line to Modern Warfare 3 was just that good.

Anyway enough of all that and down to business. It seems Jay's dark side has come out again this time he actually killed someone, but not before beating the living bejesus out of him, and then stabbing him in the chest and choke slamming him off the roof of a hotel. Brutal...

Kira's final thoughts are that she needs to protect him at all costs, especially against himself, to stop that side of him from ever surfacing again.


	12. Enter the Wyvernns

Inside a Rusty Home gas station, three soldiers were counting their supplies, remaining ammunition and equipment.

"I've got an ACR with half a mag" the one with brown hair and hazel eyes said "A single frag and my knife". He was dressed in standard Army fatigues and stood at 5'10; he had several dark spots on his face from being caught in an explosion. This man was Arthias Flynn, a First Sergeant of the Vrede Army.

His squad was sent to the suburbs the small rural city Odin's Valley to eliminate Saris forces that had occupied the evacuated city for almost a month. Unfortunately his squad was wiped out by an airstrike while securing the remains of a downed helicopter that was transporting important Intel.

"I've got my P226 a pack of C4 and six maybe seven rounds left in my M4" the second soldier said. He was taller than his comrade, standing at 6'0 even and had a scar running from the back edge of his right eye, back and just over his ear. He had blonde hair and brown eyes, Lieutenant Eric Flynn, a Navy SEAL.

He was on a mission with two other SEALs to rescue a downed bomber pilot. After securing the pilot and calling for extraction the SEAL team came under enemy fire and Lieutenant Flynn and the downed pilot were the only survivors.

"I've got my P90, P99 and my knife" the third soldier told them "Can we hold out with just this?" The bomber pilot Eric Flynn saved three days ago, a Captain in the Vrede Air Force, Elliot Kavai, current flight lead of the famous Baron bomber squadron. A youthful looking woman with shoulder length brown hair and crystal blue eyes.

Eric hung his head, "We don't have a lot of options. We can either make a run for the city line and into the valley, but it would take us at least a week to get back to allied lines".

Arthias continued, "Our radios are scrap, for us to make contact with our side we'd have to take a radio from the enemy and rig it with one of ours. But that'll raise the chance of them knowing we're still alive".

Elliot sighed, "Well whatever we're going to do we have to decide soon, if we leave it'll have to be under the cover of night. They'll still have patrols on the streets, but it's our best shot".

Eric nodded, "I vote for a retreat. If we try and hold out chances are we'll die" he looked to his younger brother Arthias "That Intel your team recovered from the chopper. What is it?"

Arthias turned around and picked up a military knapsack and pulled out a battered and scorched silver briefcase "It's a detailed blueprint of the Saris Royal Family's palace. From what we were told an undercover agent managed to get this and copy it. He was compromised and had to abandon the document. An infiltration team was sent in at night to retrieve it, but their chopper was shot down when it flew over this city".

Eric took the document and ran his eyes over it, "Something like this is invaluable. With this we could send insert a team outside the city and they could access the palace and make their way right to the Royal Family".

Arthias agreed "And if we capture them, we end this war".

Eric nodded, "Aye. We still have to get out of here first".

Captain Kavai shushed them "Quiet. I heard something".

There ground trembled slightly and the roaring of several heavy engines could be heard outside the gas station.

"Get behind the counter now!" Kavai ordered before jumping over the counter top and crouching down.

Both Arthias and Eric followed her lead and hid behind the counter just as a convoy of enemy soldiers and armored vehicles passed by them.

Looking up at the angled corner mirror above the counter Arthias counted the enemy in front of them "Got about 30 plus foot mobiles, 1 APC with mounted chain gun and a tank".

"Well ain't that just peachy" Eric grumbled.

Kavai closed her eyes and took a breath "We'll have to wait until night to move. If we stay here they'll find us".

Hearing an enemy soldier talking outside the gas station's shattered windows, Kavai quietly held her hand up telling the brothers to keep silent.

"Warte auf mich Delvario J'ai besoin d'une boisson rapide"

"Damn" Kavai muttered "One of them is coming inside to look for a drink".

Arthias whispered "This isn't good. If he sees us he'll alert the rest of them".

Eric reached to the left breast pocket of his tactical vest and pulled out a silencer for his handgun. "Arthias, Captain Kavai if it comes to it grab the one over the counter and restrain him. I'll slot the one waiting for him. Hopefully there's only one or two of them out there".

Arthias exhaled slowly "Alright Eric, just don't miss".

Eric gave a half cocked smile "If I miss at a time like this I think I'll start crying".

"Meinst du entendre que?" one of the soldiers inside the gas station said.

"There's jemand en voici" a second voice replied as the two Saris soldiers began walking around the shelves inside the gas station.

The three Vrede soldiers held their breaths as their hearts raced while the two enemy soldiers in the gas station got closer and closer.

Arthias watched the corner mirror above the counter and waited for one of the enemy soldiers to get closer. He looked to his brother and Captain Kavai and nodded before he jumped up and grabbed the enemy soldier by his wrist and neck while Kavai stabbed him in the chest and Eric shot the second soldier in the head.

Once both soldiers were killed, Eric jumped over the counter and dragged the body of the soldier he shot into the back room of the gas station while Arthias dragged the second body.

"I'll see if I can't use their radio to tap into their comms" Kavai told them after she grabbed a radio off of the soldier she stabbed.

Hours later, night came to the city. With the darkened sky and half the street lights destroyed, the three soldiers made their move.

"Do we have an idea on where we're going to go?" Arthias asked "The nearest allied base is 200 miles away".

Eric stopped to think "We don't have the supplies to hike it that far. We have to find a way to contact our forces and let them know where we are".

Kavai pointed up the street "There's a payphone. If it works we can get a message to the McNealy Air Base".

"I hope you have a plan to rig that phone" Arthias told them "I don't have any change on me".

"Maybe if we ask nicely it'll let us use it for free" Kavai joked.

Arthias scoffed "If it'll make you feel better go for it".

Stopping in front of the pay phone Eric told Kavai to hand him the enemy radio she took.

Using the tip of his knife, Eric pried the radio apart and ripped open the base of the phone "Watch for hostiles" he told them as he began using the enemy's radio to hotwire the payphone.

Holding the phone up to his ear Eric waited for someone to pick up.

"Identify yourself" a female voice said from the other end.

"This is Lieutenant Eric Flynn. Military id number 5227-alpha niner 4. I don't have access to a secure line".

There was a brief pause from the other end of the line "Military id confirmed. What's your situation Lieutenant?"

"I'm with First Sergeant Arthias Flynn Captain Elliot Kavai, we're trapped within an enemy controlled city and we're carrying critical Intel. We are low on supplies and need emergency extraction ASAP".

"Situation acknowledged Lieutenant" the female operator said "What's your current location?"

"We're in Odin's Valley and there are a lot of hostiles here with armored vehicles and a few attack helicopters".

"Standby" the operator said "Patching you through to command".

"Please hurry" Eric asked as he took a quick look over both his shoulders. Both Arthias and Kavai nodded to him letting him know the coast was still clear. Unbeknownst to them, an enemy UAV had spotted them.

A strong male voice answered the phone "This is General Chester, callsign Heavy Metal. Lieutenant Flynn I understand you're in need of extraction?"

"Yes sir" Eric answered "We're low on supplies and ammunition and we're carrying critical Intel on the Royal Family's palace in Saris. We need immediate extraction from Odin's Valley".

"Roger that Lieutenant" Heavy Metal replied "We're sending an extraction team and fighter escort, ETA till arrival 40 minutes, just dig in and hold out until extraction arrives".

"Roger, Heavy Metal we'll dig in at the Rusty…"

"Look out!" Arthias yelled grabbing Eric and pulling him away from the payphone as an enemy tank fired at them.

Hearing a screeching sound in their ears from the tank's cannon shell passing right over their head's the three soldiers ran into a nearby alley and away from the incoming enemy.

"We have to find somewhere to hide and hold out until the extraction chopper gets here" Kavai yelled as the three of them sprinted through the alley.

"This way!" Arthias told them as he kicked open the back door to a bookstore.

Once the three soldiers were inside, Arthias and his brother grabbed one of the bookshelves and pushed it over to block the door before they ran across to the other side.

"Enemy chopper get down!" Kavai whispered before she dropped to the ground.

Both Eric and Arthias got down on their stomachs just as an enemy Hind flew by with a spot light.

"Alright boys, nice and slow" Kavai said as she slowly got up to her knees and peeked her head out the window. "Alright let's move" she said before silently pushing the front door open and running across the street.

Once she made it to the other side she braced herself against a corner with her P90 aimed down the street as Eric made a run for it.

Once Eric was safely across the street he waved for Arthias to follow after them.

Arthias immediately broke into a sprint across the darkened street, just as the enemy tank rolled around the corner.

"Damn, we need to hurry!" Eric growled.

Kicking open the closest door to them, the three jumped inside and immediately shut the door behind them before blindly trying to find their way in the pitch black room.

Arthias stumbled over what felt like a shelf of some kind "Man I can't see a thing in front of me".

"We can't afford to give away our position" Eric whispered "So no lights".

Kavai spotted a group of soldiers at the windows. "That's going to be difficult, we've got hostiles with flashlights at the windows, get down".

The door opened and four soldiers entered the dark room with their flashlights in one hand and weapons in the other. "Uberall suchen" one of them ordered to the others.

"They're searching for us" Kavai whispered, but she was no where near Eric or Arthias.

One of the soldiers tripped on something and yelled as he fell to the floor panicking the other soldiers.

The soldier immediately got back to his feet and said he was fine before reaching down to retrieve his flashlight. Eric who was hiding behind a clothes rack lunged out of a corner and wrapped his arm around his neck and his hand around his mouth.

Dragging the muffled soldier back into the corner, Eric took his knife and slit the soldier's throat before gently setting his body against the wall.

"Hossenfeffer!" one of the soldiers called after hearing something kicked over and not seeing that the flashlight was still on the ground.

Before the enemy soldier could react, Arthias, who was lying right behind him, silently rose to his feet and tightly placed his left hand over his mouth while his right hand was pressed against the back of his helmet and in one swift, silent action snapped the soldier's neck.

Guiding the body back, Arthias set it on the floor while the other soldiers began to panic when they saw that two flashlights were now on the ground.

Watching from the corner, Eric used his suppressed P226 took careful aim at one of the remaining two soldiers and shot him in the twice in the back killing him.

The fourth enemy was in a full panic, in less than fifteen seconds his three allies were taken down in complete darkness, leaving him alone.

Seeing something move just at the edge of his peripheral, the soldier panicked and aimed his rifle.

Just as the soldier raised his rifle, Kavai sprung out from her hiding place and grabbed the soldier's wrist with her right hand before pushing it up as she did a half spin the stopped her back right in front of him and slammed her left elbow into his Adam's apple, she turned to face him as she released his wrist and then used her left arm to wrap around his and wrenched it up before she reached up and wrapped her right arm around his head and kneed him in the stomach forcing him to hunch over.

Once the soldier hunched over, Kavai twisted her body to the left and immediately jerked up snapping the soldier's neck in her arm before dropping his body to the ground.

"Eric, Kavai sound off" Arthias said in a loud whisper.

"I'm here" Eric said, keeping a tight grip on his P226.

Kavai panted "I'm alright".

Arthias sighed "We need to move, they're going to notice a missing party pretty soon".

Grabbing one of the flashlights and a radio, Arthias peeked his head out the door "Coast is clear, let's go".

Running down the street, back toward the payphone where they were ambushed they retreated into a half collapsed restaurant and made they're way to the meat locker.

"Arthias hand me that radio" Eric said as he backed away giving his brother and Kavai room to cover the entrance to the meat locker.

Using the enemy radio, Eric made contact with McNealy Air Base. "This is Lieutenant Eric Flynn to McNealy Air Base. Someone respond".

"This is Heavy Metal, what's your status?"

"We're holding out in the meat locker of a collapsed restaurant, there's an enemy Hind patrolling the area and a tank in the streets. We can't hind forever we need that extraction now".

"Roger that Lieutenant. We have a flight of three F-15's inbound loaded for bear they'll sanitize the area for your evac, ETA 2 minutes putting you in contact with the flight lead now".

Eric nodded "Copy all Heavy Metal, thanks" waiting until he heard the roar of fighter engines over his radio Eric said "This is Lieutenant Flynn to the flight lead of the F-15's heading to Odin's Valley".

The flight lead of the squadron replied "This is 2nd Lieutenant Oswell of Demon squadron approaching Odin's Valley".

"Lieutenant, There's an enemy Hind and armor in the AO, your flight is going to have to sanitize the entire area before we can pull out. We're hold out inside a collapsed restaurant at the southwest end of the town. Over".

"Demon flight roger's your last, beginning attack run over the area".

From inside the restaurant's meat locker, the three soldiers heard the roar of the fighter jets as they passed over head and an explosion soon followed by another that made the ground shake.

"Demon flight to ground forces, enemy bird and armor eliminated, evac chopper will be landing nearby in 2 minutes".

Eric held the radio up "Copy all Demon flight thanks for the assist".

Outside the restaurant, the three soldiers waited for the Black Hawk to land so they could finally leave.

Seeing something glint in the sky, Kavai dropped her P90 sub-machine gun and pushed Eric and Arthias back inside just before a predator missile was fired from an enemy UAV.

"Captain Kavai!" Eric and Arthias both yelled after they realized what had just happened.

Another explosion roared in the sky as the three F-15's shot down the UAV before it could fire again.

After the dust cloud settled Eric and Arthias ran outside to see if Kavai had managed to avoid the missile, but they didn't see her.

"Kavai!" Eric called "KAVAI!" he yelled again.

Someone could be heard coughing, from inside the dumpster sitting right next to the doorway.

"Kavai!" Eric yelled again as he and Arthias ran to it.

Kavai was bruised and covered in dirt and trash, but other than that she was unharmed.

"Oh!" Arthias groaned after they helped her out of the dumpster "Think that dumpster left some of its juices on you Captain".

Kavai groaned as she tried in vain to wipe the smelly liquid from her flightsuit "I should've just jumped back inside and let you two die".

Eric nodded toward the helicopter as it landed to extract them "Come on Captain let's go home and get you cleaned up".

"That's the story of the fourth and last time I was ever shot down" Kavai said with a pleased smile "It also happens to be my favorite memory from the war".

Jay asked "Even after the whole dumpster incident?"

Kavai nodded her head to the side with a light 'hmm' sound "Yeah, I was laughing about it by the time we got back to the air base. Eric, Arthias and I have been close as siblings ever since".

"Well those two are brothers to begin with" Jay noted.

Kavai nodded "True, but one day you might find out what I mean".

Jay tilted his head "What's there to find out?" he asked "It's not that hard to understand. The three of you were in a desperate situation and there was little chance you'd survive. Things like that can even pull people who had never met together into a strong bond".

Kavai had a gentle smile while she shook her head "You understand the simplicity of it. But it goes a lot deeper than that".

Jay shrugged "If you say so. By the way checkmate" Jay had moved his rook forward two spaces and checked Kavai's king between it and his knight.

Kavai immediately ran her eyes over the chess board in disbelief before she hung her head "Game over" she muttered in a defeated tone.

Jay smirked and immediately shot up from his chair "Yep that means lunch is on you".

Captain Kavai got up after pushing her king over and went to take a quick shower before her and Jay left the Emerald's Edge.

Waiting on the large ramp that ran from the warship to the docks, Jay had changed his attire. He was wearing light blue jeans that stopped at his knees and a white shirt t-shirt under an un-buttoned silver Hawaiian shirt.

Ten minutes later, Captain Kavai had finally joined him. She was wearing a plain sky blue shirt with black, short track pants. Her silky, light brown hair was brushed back and evenly split so it rested on both of her shoulder.

"You know" Jay began as he saw the way Kavai was dressed "You dress any nicer people will begin to think we're dating".

Kavai blushed almost immediately "Jay!" she gasped "Don't say something like that, you're still underage. Now you've got me nervous".

Jay smirked with an evil chuckle "This is gonna be a fun day".

Leaving the docks and walking into town, Jay locked his hands behind his head "So that squadron that helped you in that story of yours" he said "Demon flight, I've never heard of them".

Kavai lowered her eyes for a second "It was considered confidential at the time, but that was years ago". Kavai looked up at the sky and closed her eyes while she remembered the sound of fighter engines roaring over the restaurant she hid in with the Flynn brothers. "They were a mercenary group our military hired near the end of the war. I spoke to them a few times after that day, but I still don't know that much about them other than there names".

"Well?" Jay asked in a 'keep going' tone.

Kavai continued "Canis was number 3 in the squadron. He was quite a chatter box. Liked to make jokes a lot and extremely protective of his squad mates. Katrina was the squad's number 2. A very beautiful woman, really friendly a truly skilled pilot. Then there was the flight lead. Keith. Well trained, piloting skills unlike any I had ever seen. And his eyes, his eyes held a strange gaze, I felt like I was looking at the sun and the moon at the same time".

"What happened to them?" Jay asked.

Kavai shook her head "I'm not sure, they took part in the siege of the Saris capital, but after that they just disappeared. There's been nothing on them since then. They may be living a quiet life somewhere or they could be dead, there's no telling".

Jay asked "So how good were they?"

Kavai shrugged "The best pilots I've ever seen, maybe even better than your father".

Jay cheered "I could take 'em".

Kavai shook her head "I'd actually like to see that. You're probably the best pilot currently in our military. You against the three demons of the skies, that'd be an interesting battle".

Jay nodded in a comical style "If I were to get shot down I guarantee I'll have taken them with me".

Kavai told him "From what I knew about him, Keith was a lot like you are now".

Jay looked at his former instructor and asked what she meant.

"Well, Keith was relentless in battle, an unrivaled pilot with natural instincts and ability. You're much the same".

"That's it?" Jay asked in a disappointed tone.

Kavai shrugged "Well I didn't know anything about him other than his piloting skills".

Jay rolled his eyes "Alright, well let's eat; I'm feelin' some vibes on something Cajun".

Kavai moaned "Cajun? Really?"

"Yes!" Jay barked hysterically "I want something with a bit of spice".

"Is that why you're dating Caitlyn?" Kavai asked him.

Jay's face went red "We are not dating!" he said in a calm 'lay down the line' tone.

Kavai chuckled "Relax. I'm just teasing. The two of you do seem to be getting along really well though".

Jay nodded his head to the side. A week ago, there was supposed to be the unveiling of four new fighter jets, the Wyvernns. Jay had gotten a first hand look at them since he and the other Holy Knights were going to be piloting them, but since the Terrorist Michel Spring kidnapped Caitlyn Bourne, the princess and heir to the Saris throne, the exhibition was postponed.

Jay along with the leader of Caitlyn's personal guard and acting sub-commander of the Emerald's Edge, Terry O'Brian had rescued Caitlyn and killed Michel in the process. Jay however didn't remember that he was the one who killed Michel, and under orders from his father no one was to tell him.

Taking the last sip from his tea Jay gave out an excessive satisfied sigh as he set the cup down "I love Cajun".

Kavai snickered as she shook her head "I'm not making anymore bets with you that involve the loser paying for something".

Jay leaned back in his seat before looking at her "Kavai".

Kavai looked at him, his tone had changed, it sounded more serious now, almost as if he had realized something "Yes?" she asked hesitantly.

"I just remembered something" Jay continued in the same serious tone.

Kavai became nervous, her body stiffened and her nerves began to dull.

Jay's expression changed to a blank, wide eyed one as his tone returned to its comical roots "They have snow cones here".

Kavai's entire body had gone into shut down mode for a brief few seconds before she began chuckling weakly "Really? Snow cones? You sounded all serious about something and you were talking about snow cones?"

Jay nodded "Yeah" he heard a small bell jingling across the street and his ears twitched "That's the frozen yogurt guy!" he said shooting his head to the opposite side of the street and seeing a middle age man with a freezer-cart of yogurt.

"What is it with you and food today?" Kavai asked him.

Jay shook his head "No idea, I've had the munchies all day".

Kavai gave him a suspicious look, but Jay immediately cut her off "Not THAT kind of munchies!" he defended.

"So these new fighters" Kavai began "Know anything about them?"

Jay nodded his head to the side "A little, all I really know about them is a scouting ship found an abandoned space station and four fighters in the hangar. From what they were able to piece together from the data on the station, it was attacked by the same enemy that attacked us. The fighters are called Dreads and the station was occupied by the forces of a distant planet called Mejere or something like that. Anyway they brought the fighters back with them and from what dad told me we just modified them".

"Well we should get going" Kavai told him as she stood up.

"But what about the frozen yogurt guy?" Jay asked in a fake whining tone as he used his thumb to point at the frozen yogurt cart across the street.

"The deal was I paid for lunch, not desert" Kavai grumbled.

Jay scoffed "Who said you're paying, this one's on me".

"You're actually going to pay for once?" Kavai asked in disbelief.

Jay told her in a blunt tone "Well if you'd stop losing to me then I would've payed before. Besides what kind of date would this be if I didn't treat you to something".

"JAY!" Kavai gasped before frantically looking around "Watch it you're going to get me in trouble".

Jay tilted his head and shook it once "Nah I don't think so. Now suspicious looks yeah, they'll give you some looks, but I don't think you'll get in trouble".

"That's not the point!" Kavai barked before Jay looked to the side and called out "Princess!"

Just a few from them, sitting on a bench in front of a book store was the princess of the Saris Royal Family, Caitlyn Bourne.

Caitlyn froze, but she didn't look up. Her muscles tightened as she waited for whoever it was to call her again.

Jay and Kavai walked over to her "Yo Caitlyn" Jay said after they stopped next to her.

Realizing whose voice it was Caitlyn looked up from the book she was reading "Oh Jay. Captain Kavai".

"Where are your guards?" Kavai asked her.

Caitlyn had a faint guilty smile on her face "I uh…snuck out when no one was looking".

Kavai gasped "You what?"

Jay laughed "Oh there is hope for yet princess. I'm proud of you".

"Don't call me that!" Caitlyn barked quietly "You know I don't like being called that".

Jay rubbed the back of his head "Sorry, I'm in unusually high spirits today".

"Why?" Caitlyn asked him.

Jay pointed his thumb at Kavai "Because I get to go on a date with Elliot".

"JAY!" Kavai panicked as Caitlyn and a few pedestrians started looking at them. One of them even shot Captain Kavai a disgusted look.

Caitlyn stuttered "You…You two are dating?"

Kavai immediately began frantically waving her hands back and forth "No we're not".

Jay snickered at Kavai's embarrassment "We're not dating, but its fun to mess with her like that".

"Jay seriously" Kavai cried silently "Don't even joke like that, if rumors started going around I could be dishonorably discharged for…relationships with a minor".

Jay's expression went completely blank and his tone became blunt "It's not like we're having sex".

Both Kavai's and Caitlyn's face went red "Jay I'm serious!" Kavai pleaded "Stop joking like that".

Jay sighed "Alright I'll find another way to have fun…" Jay's eyes trailed to Caitlyn "Hey Caitlyn" he said slightly tilting his head up to her.

Caitlyn's face became redder "Y…Yes?"

Jay hesitated for a moment before he spoke "You…you wanna go out sometime? We're not leaving for another week and we're not going to be returning home for a few months so…well I mean…"

Caitlyn's face brightened as did Jay's; Kavai seemed surprised at what had just happened.

Caitlyn lowered her eyes to the side "Sure" she muttered.

Jay scoffed under his breath "Alright so, assuming we don't have anything to do after the new fighter exhibition…you wanna watch a movie or go fishing or…I don't know I could do anything really".

Caitlyn felt that if her face got any hotter she'd pass out; her heart felt like it was trying to beat its way out of her chest. "Alright. Why don't we decide that later though".

Caitlyn grabbed her book and ran off leaving Jay and Kavai behind.

Kavai looked down at Jay with a mix of disbelief and impressed "Jay…did you really just".

"Apparently I did" Jay replied, he also seemed somewhat surprised at what he did.

Kavai sighed "Well I'd hate to ruin this…whatever kind of moment this is, but we need to get back to the air base for the exhibition".

Jay nodded and turned around "Alright let's go".

Jay and Kavai returned to Knights Air Base to prepare for the exhibition dog fight, originally Jay couldn't contain his excitement of being allowed to pilot the new fighter, but after he asked Caitlyn out that was all he could think about.

After arriving at the air base, Jay said goodbye to his former instructor and ran for the locker room to change into a flightsuit.

Bolting into the locker room Jay ran to the end of the room and opened his locker to retrieve his flightsuit just as Kira entered the room.

Seeing Jay in nothing, but his briefs Kira's face had a faint red glow to it as she slightly turned her head to the side.

Jay couldn't help, but grin "You can look away all you want, but I know you're daydreamin' about me".

Kira immediately shot her gaze back to him "Shut up!" she gasped "I'm just her to change into my flightsuit".

Kira walked to the other side of the same row of lockers Jay was standing at, her locker was right behind his. The two of them stood facing the lockers staring right at each other through the thin steel boxes.

"So" Jay said "Excited?"

"Yeah" Kira replied "We're going to be the only ones to pilot these things, you, me, Jack and Rainer. Somehow the four of us have become the pillar of strength for our world's military".

Jay bounced his head to the side "Sooo…" he began "I…asked Caitlyn out".

"What!" Kira gasped leaning her head around the corner of the locker while keeping her chest covered with the top half of her flightsuit "And?"

Jay kept a blank, unsure expression on his face "She said yes. If we have the free time after the exhibition we're going out tonight".

Kira still had a confused look on her face, but she managed a small smile "Well I say go for it. Stop looking so worried and smile, she's a princess isn't that a fantasy for most guys?"

Jay shrugged "I wouldn't know. Besides I'm not 'most guys' I don't care if she's one of the Royal Family. I may not understand my feelings for her at the moment, but I still want to find out".

Kira returned to putting on her flightsuit while Jay stared at the ceiling wondering about what he would say or do if he did go out with Caitlyn. For that matter would the Royal Family even permit it? O'Brian and Jay were on good terms now and one could even say there's a growing friendship between them, but would he even approve? O'Brian is Caitlyn's personal guard.

"Jay let's go!" Kira's voice snapped bringing Jay out of his thoughts.

"Sorry" he muttered before closing his locker and following Kira to the hangars.

Entering the hangar Jay and Kira were greeted by Jack and Rainer.

"Afternoon Captains" Kira saluted.

"Hey you two" Rainer replied respectfully returning Kira' salute.

"So how's this exhibition going to work?" Kira asked "No one's really told us anything".

Jack looked over his shoulder at the four shiny new fighter jets "At first command wanted us to have a mach battle against another squadron, but I came up with a better idea" he paused to look at Kira and Jay, giving his son a long 'sizing him up' look. "Instead we're going to be in a 2 on 2 battle using dummy rounds and impact paint missiles".

"A 2 on 2 battle?" Kira asked "So how will that work? Do we just fight each other until one team loses both its pilots?"

Jack nodded "Indeed. Currently the four of us are the best pilots in the military. So what better way to gauge the performance of the Wyvernns than to test them against each other".

Kira shifted her eyes to Jay "So what are the pairings then?"

Jack smiled "You and Jay against me and Rainer". Jay's ears perked when he heard that.

Kira's mouth hung open for a second "But Captain, you can't seriously expect Jay and me to be able to hold our own against the two of you. You have more experience than we do".

"Then consider this just another training exercise" Rainer told her "It'd be a great opportunity for the two of you to gain battle experience against pilots who've been at the game longer than you".

"When do we get started?" Jay asked them with a fierce look in his eyes.

Jack nodded to the new Wyvernns "Right now".

Seeing the look in his son's eyes made Jack smile on the inside, he loved his son, but in this time of war he needed him to understand the seriousness of battle and he was going to go all out to show him.

The four pilots climbed into their respective Wyvernns. Jack in the blood red one, Rainer in the tiger stripped brown and yellow, Kira in the white one and Jay in the silver.

"Captain Masterson to control tower, we're ready to begin the exhibition"

"Roger Captain Masterson, your squad is cleared for take off on runway 2".

Starting with Jack and ending with Kira the Holy Knights took off into the sky. The four Wyvernns gleamed in the sunlight as the squad broke away from each other in two man formations.

"Control tower this is Captain Rainer, we're ready to begin the exhibition".

"Roger that Captain, transmitting new IFF data for the exhibition. You are cleared to engage in 10 seconds".

In the silver Wyvernn, Jay looked down at the ground from the cockpit and a faint feeling of peace washed over him, taking all of his worries, doubts and hesitation with him. Whenever he flew he felt at peace, the sky…something about being able to fly it's as if the sky was his real home.

"Kira" he said quietly "You remember that frequency we used while you and Hideki were in class that one time?"

Kira answered "Yeah why?"

Jay looked at the two faint dots on the horizon "Switch to it, we don't need them listening in on our strategy".

Jay and Kira switched radio frequencies to their own channel "Alright, Kira fly on my wing, we'll target Rainer first and drop him then we'll go for my dad".

Kira felt another smile cross her face "Well aren't you the big time squad leader" she joked.

Jay also smiled "Would you rather take the lead?"

Kira shook her head "No that's alright; I'll just follow you and make sure you don't do anything stupid".

"That's why you're flying behind me" Jay told her "That way I can keep you out of the line of fire and you can watch my 6".

Looking down at his radar, Jay saw his dad and Rainer approaching them at top speed "Alright, its time. Let's see if the old guys still have the touch".

The four pilots flew head on toward each other, ready for anything the other side had. Jack and Rainer were determined to teach Jay and Kira how a real Ace flies while Kira was determined to prove that she was just as good as they were, Jay however wanted to show everyone, not just his squad mates, but everyone in the military that he was the best pilot out there, the one true Ace.

Once they were within range, Jack and Rainer immediately split from each other in a wide Dutch roll before Jack banked his fighter to the left and Rainer banked his to the right, the two Wyvernns crossed right in front of each other with the precision of an air show.

Jack and Rainer were now flying outwards towards Jay and Kira. Jay immediately knew what they were doing; he had seen and read about it many times. It was the signature technique of Pyramid squadron, box the enemy from both sides and behind and shoot them down.

Sadly Pyramid 3 was shot down and killed during the siege of the Saris capital at the end of the war, but Jack and Rainer were still confident they could pull it off.

Rainer flew wide to get behind Jay and Kira while Jack would fly past them in a strafing style attack.

"Kira follow me on three, we break left" Jay ordered.

"Roger" Kira replied as the two veteran Aces closed in from the left and rear.

"3…2…1!" Jay immediately threw his flightstick to the left and pushed down making his plane do a horizontal nose dive to avoid his father's strafing run, Kira had done the same, but a dummy round grazed the back of her fighter scoring a point for the Veteran side.

"Kira stay close and follow my moves exactly, I know you can do this" Jay told her as he flew straight up into the sky with his Wyvernn spinning before he pulled back on the flightstick, performing a half, back loop the loop and diving straight toward Rainer as he flew up to meet him.

Firing two missiles at Rainer, Jay pulled the trigger on his flightstick firing the machine guns forcing Rainer to break away.

Jay's dive was too forward, for him to turn right away which left him open to Rainer's counter attack, but Kira intercepted him before he could turn around.

"They're just as good as I expected" Kira said after Rainer evaded her attack unharmed.

"That's why we're going to win" Jay said to her "We know how good they are, but they have no idea at how good we can get".

Leveling his fighter, Jay followed after Kira who was trailing Rainer trying to get a lock on him, but to no avail so far. Jack was far to their left and had a long range lock on Kira's fighter.

Watching his HUD closely, Jack waited for the missile guidance system to achieve a full lock as his thumb hovered over the missile fire button at the top of his flightstick. Once he was locked on he brought his thumb down on the missile release button firing a single long range XLAA missile that screamed toward Kira's Wyvernn.

Kira heard the warning alarms in her cockpit and fired two missiles at Rainer before breaking away to avoid Jack's missile.

Once Kira broke away from Rainer, he tilted his fighter and flew wide to the left to avoid the missile, but after missile stopped chasing him, Jay replaced it with one of his own.

Throwing his flightstick in the opposite direction, Rainer switched around to avoid Jay's attack. Flying wide to his right now, Rainer evaded Jay's missile, but Jay was still behind him. Jay's own senses had tightened, his reflex timing was increasing. Everytime Rainer would evade or Jack would turn to fire a missile to force Jay to break away, his reaction time just kept getting sharper and sharper and it wasn't just him.

Kira was also showing signs of rapid improvement, with timing even faster than Jay's she could level herself behind her target and gain an instant lock before breaking away the second she heard her warning alarms. Only ten minutes into the exhibition and the veteran aces were forced onto the defensive.

Jay was still tailing Rainer with a demon's persistence and even though Rainer managed to avoid Jay locking onto him, the second Jay broke away Kira replaced him.

"Jack some support would really be nice" he yelled after narrowly evading one of Kira's missiles before rolling to the side to avoid one from Jay.

"Bring 'em this way I'll get them off ya" Jack told him as he switched to his special weapons.

Rainer turned around and flew straight toward his wingman dragging Jay and Kira along with him. "Alright Rainer break left on the count of 3 ready?"

Jay watched his father's jet closely while he trailed Rainer he knew what was about to happen, they were going to use a baited launch and leave tactic.

"Kira I'm going to bank right you fly straight up and follow me lead from there".

Kira nodded "Alright".

Watching the two enemy jets Jay waited for Rainer to break away, he squinted his eyes and everything around ceased to exist. At that moment the only thing that was going on was the exhibition match, nothing else was there.

The second Rainer's jet tilted to the side, Jay jerked his flightstick in the opposite direction and Kira pulled hers back flying straight up while Jay went to the side evading his father's missiles.

"Kira turn and get a lock on my dad, hurry!" Jay yelled as rolled his fighter 180 degrees in mid turn to follow his dad's jet.

Kira leveled her Wyvernn and dived right toward Jack's gaining a quick lock before she fired her missile which Jack immediately evaded just as Jay gained a lock of his own, but lost it.

"Dammit" Jay growled before he turned to follow his dad before Rainer got a lock on him forcing him to break away.

"They're trying to separate us!" Kira cried after Jack got behind her and Rainer started pushing Jay away.

"Then that's going to be our window" Jay said "Kira fly straight at me and wait for my signal, then I want you to break away by flying upward right above me, make sure you target Rainer first".

"Alright" Kira acknowledged before turning around to lead Jack toward Jay "What's the plan?"

"We're going to use they're own technique against them. When I give the word tilt you plane upwards just enough so it'll barely pass over me and fire at Rainer with your guns, I'll handle my dad".

"Alright let's do it" Kira said as she targeted Rainer while he trailed Jay.

The two young pilots were now flying right at each other and Jack and Rainer thought they knew what they were planning.

"They really think they can bait us with this?" Rainer said.

Jack narrowed his eyes "No they've got something else planned".

Jay counted down from three as he and Kira drew closer to each other "Alright break!"

Kira tilted her fighter up and pulled the trigger on her flightstick scoring several hits on Rainer's jet as he broke away and Jay fired two missiles and his guns at his father's jet without hitting him.

Kira continued to follow Rainer, while Jay trailed after his father. Gaining a lock on Rainer Kira fired a single missile before switching to her special weapons and firing 2 XLAA missiles at close range forcing Rainer to break into a sharp turn that led him right into one of Jay's missiles.

Jay had trailed his father as a distraction before quickly breaking away to pursue Rainer with Kira. Watching Kira fire missile after missile, Jay watched Rainer take a steep turn and saw his chance.

Rainer's turn was too steep for him to pull out of and Jay's missile impacted the back of his Wyvernn taking him out of the fight.

"Captain Rainer has been shot down" the control tower.

Rainer turned his fighter away from the battle and returned to the airbase, it was now two on one.

"Alright Kira, we need to box him in, don't let up for a second. Chase him down until we get him".

Now a two on one fight, Jay and Kira grew bolder they had managed to shoot down a veteran ace, but the one that was left wasn't just another ace. He was a war hero; the pilot that made sure the war had ended. Singlehandedly Jack Masterson had maintained air superiority over the Saris capital city during its siege, if it wasn't for him the siege would have failed and the team that was sent into the Royal Family's palace would've been wiped out.

There was no doubt that Jack Masterson was a true ace a man with no equal, but in recent years many had speculated that his son, who time and time again had proven to be a natural pilot. Many believed he may be able to match or even beat his father, soldiers from Vrede and Saris alike and from other nations across the world, many of them wanted to see the two of them go one of one.

The old saying was "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree" and Jay's abilities as a pilot coupled with his young age made many believe that he had inherited his father's skills.

Jay loved his father, but he wanted to prove that he could be better. He wanted to prove that he could write his own legacy in history instead of just continuing his father's. When he entered the military academy his father attended he made it his goal to break any and all records his father had during his time at the academy, eventually he managed to do just that. Now the only challenge left was to shoot down the man he looked up to the most, his hero and his own rival, his father.

"Kira" Jay said in a quiet, neutral tone.

"Yes?"

"Leave this one to me".

Kira looked outside her canopy to Jay's Wyvernn "Jay, are you sure? I mean he is"

Jay cut her off "I'm sure. Its time for me to start my own path in life and to open the gate I need to shoot down my dad".

Kira closed her eyes and tilted her fighter away from Jay, slowly breaking away from him "Alright Jay, I'll leave it to you. I know you can do it".

After Kira broke away, Jay switched his radio frequency back to the standard channel "Dad".

"So you've finally decided to tune back in to my victory channel huh?" his father joked.

"Cute" Jay said coolly "Kira's sitting this one out; she's returning to base, this is now just between you and me".

"A one on one dogfight between us?" his father asked "Alright, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to fly against you one day".

Jay smiled "I could say the same thing, only my version of it isn't just flying against you…I'm going to win".

Jack scoffed, but he did have a smile on his face, his son's determination made him proud "Alright little boy, if you think you've got what it takes then come shoot me down".

It was finally time, the moment Jay had waited for as long as he could remember, the chance to prove to his dad and everyone that he was the number 1 pilot, in the past Jay never did anything to prove that he was the best, he didn't care, or at least that's what he wanted to believe.

Jay never wanted to see himself as a man who only lived to prove he was the best that was the lie he told himself when he entered the same military academy his father went to. He knew he had a name to live up to so he forced himself to match or break any record his father held at the academy.

Eventually he came to realize that he didn't want to live up to his father's name, he wanted to be better. But even then Jay wasn't a prideful person, he just wanted to live a fun and clean life with Kira and Hideki, but after that day, the day those machines attacked his home that was the day he began to realize that he had more than just one path in life he could follow.

He'll never forget the feeling he had when he hijacked the fighter jet from the Air Base and flew into his first air battle, he'd never forget the sense of duty he had when he protected his town, his people and his world. And he would never forget how he felt when Kira told him how happy it made her that he had done what he did.

Kira…the one person he cared most about, the one person he probably loved more than his parents, the one person that had always been there for him and the one person who's opinion ever mattered to him. Kira may be five years older than Jay, but he made it his job in life to protect her, to show her that he was strong enough to be there for her like she always was there for him.

The two reasons Jay wanted to become the best pilot, the two reasons he wanted to prove he was better than his dad. To carve his own legacy into history and to show Kira how strong he had become.

The dogfight of the century, regardless of how it ended that's how everyone would refer to it, everyone in the Gelinkos World Military was watching the dogfight between the famous Blood Hunter, Jack Masterson and his own son who was the youngest person in the entire military and already considered a war hero.

Eventually News teams began filming the dogfight from the top of buildings and from helicopters, sensing a true story behind this. It wasn't just an exhibition to test new fighter jets anymore; it was a dogfight anyone would want to see.

Evading a missile from his father, Jay flew at top speed trying to put enough distance between him and his father so he could turn for a counter attack. His fighter's engines roared as the afterburners flared with life, but his dad, the famous Blood Hunter wasn't going to let up.

Looking down at his altitude meter and air speed, Jay had an idea that might allow him to get behind his father, a risky move that might cause him to lose, but a gamble he had to take.

Turning his fighter straight up, Jay flew right toward the sky, and watched as his father followed him.

Waiting for his dad to lock in on him, Jay closed his eyes and exhaled as time began slowing down, once again he felt light as air, the greatest sense of peace he had ever felt in his life.

Hearing the missile warning alarm in his cockpit, Jay shot his eyes open and immediately decelerated his fighter and pulled back on his flightstick, using gravity and air friction to force his fighter to fall from the sky.

Jay calmly looked through his canopy as his father's missiles roared right past him; probably no more than 3 feet from his canopy and what's more is he even looked his father in the eyes as he fell past him.

Jack's fighter was going too fast for him to stop immediately and the angle of his ascent was too steep for him to turn as effectively giving Jay, just the opening he needed.

Swinging his flightstick to the side, Jay spun his Wyvernn around and looped back over leveling it right behind his father's fighter just as he began turning away.

"You're mine!" Jay yelled as he fired two missiles and his machine guns narrowly missing his father's plane.

Jack was now the one being tailed, trying his best to shake Jay, but nothing worked.

He had even decelerated and looped behind him, a basic, but perhaps the most effective skill a fighter pilot could perform, but the second he started looping; Jay had decelerated and looped with him, making sure to stay behind him the entire time.

Switching to his special weapons Jay waited to gain a solid lock on his dad's plane. Watching the target reticule circle around the center of his HUD, Jay narrowed his eyes while he continued to pursue his father through every turn he made until the guidance system locked onto their target and Jay fired three impact paint missiles at his father's jet.

Jack evaded the missiles by making a sharp left turn, but Jay stayed right on him. The second his father began turning Jay was on him firing his machine guns scoring several hits on the tail of his dad's Wyvernn.

"Don't think that's going to be enough to take me down Jay" Jack laughed "I've got more than enough fight in me".

"No" Jay told him in a calm, cool tone "You don't".

Locking on to his dad once again, Jay fired four XLAA missiles and immediately switch to his regular missiles before firing his machine guns in the direction his dad was turning making him turn back the other way and right back into a missile lock.

Firing two normal sidewinder missiles, Jay scored a double hit on his father's Wyvernn and immediately strafed his left wing with gunfire to make sure the damage had been done.

"This isn't over yet Jay" Jack panted "You've still got a ways to go before you beat me".

Jay broke away from his father and flew away at top speed, Jack watched him fly away and had the same idea, this dogfight was going to end with one final run.

The two Wyvernns were football fields apart before they turned around. Now flying right at each other the two pilots targeted the other and moved their thumbs over the missile release button at the top of the flight stick.

Ten thousand feet apart and closing fast both Jack and Jay squinted their eyes as they drew closer to lock on range.

Five thousand feet and the two pilots were now locked onto each other, but neither one of them fired or broke away.

Two thousand feet, almost too far within effective missile range and still neither pilot budged an inch.

One thousand feet, any closer and the fighters would pass each other before the rockets on the missiles could even ignite.

Both pilots fired a single missile each before trying to break away.

Both Jay and Jack performed a complete barrel roll to avoid the oncoming missile. The missiles passed right by the edge of the fighter's wings as they spun around, mere inches from grazing them.

In mid roll, Jay jerked his flightstick back and turned his Wyvernn around getting a lock on his father and firing another missile immediately followed by four XLAAs and a strafing of gunfire all of which were dead on target.

The sudden impact from so many paint missiles caused minor damage to the fighter forcing Jack to break away and forfeit the fight.

"Captain Masterson has been shot down" the control tower operator announced "The exhibition match is over. I repeat the exhibition match is over both pilots RTB".

Jay followed his father back to the air base to make sure he landed safely before landing himself.

After his Wyvernn touched down and came to a full stop, Jay leaned back in his seat to catch his breath and run the events of the exhibition through his head.

Opening his eyes, Jay took a deep breath before opening the canopy of his Wyvernn and climbing down to be met by Kira, Hideki and Captain Kavai.

"I can't believe it, you actually did it!" Kavai said happily as she hugged him along with Kira.

"I knew you could do it" Kira whispered to him.

"Way to go Jay" Hideki said holding his fist out.

Jay had an arrogant, but well deserved smirk on his face as he bumped fists with Hideki "Easy day guys".

Looking behind Captain Kavai, Jay saw his father walking over to him.

Stepping away from his friends, Jay walked over to meet his dad who slowly extended his hand out to him.

"Good job son, I'm proud of you" he said after Jay grabbed his hand and shook it.

Jay didn't say anything to his father, there wasn't a need for words. After nodding his head, Jay turned to walk away and return to the locker room to change.

Three hours removed from the exhibition match and Jay was standing alone at a street corner, under a single streetlight.

"You were really great out there today" a female voice said from his right.

Jay looked over to Caitlyn and nodded "Thanks, I'm still shaking from all of it".

Caitlyn stepped out of the shadows and into the streetlight, now standing next to Jay "I'm happy that you asked me out" she said hesitantly "If it's alright with you, I'd like to just sit under the moonlight since it's such a clear night".

Jay nodded his head to the side "Alright, that's cool with me".

Caitlyn slowly reached her hand out to Jay's, but hesitated just as she was about to grab it, her nervousness showed.

Noticing her hand moving, Jay gently opened his and grabbed hers, surprising the princess. "There's a lake nearby with a dock if you'd like to head there".

Caitlyn nodded with a small smile before they crossed the street and began walking down the large hill toward the nearby lake.

"Thank you Jay" Caitlyn said quietly.

"For what?" he asked her.

Caitlyn looked up to him and smiled "For not treating me like a normal person. It's nice to not be treated as a princess all the time".

"You're one of my friends Caitlyn" he told her "Princess, Queen, King, Prime Minister or President. It wouldn't matter what kind of title you held, you're someone important to me".

Caitlyn slowly rested her head against Jay's shoulder "Still, it's nice to be normal for a change, so thank you".

Jay and Caitlyn continued their way to the lake, under the light of the silver moon.


End file.
